UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
ROBERT ERNEST COWAN
HISTORY
ALASKA
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I InHiM \A/ _i=^t;?r^AA/Nj
AN ABRIDGED
fflSTORY OF ALASKA
By
JOHN W. BROWN
A Lawyer of the Seattle Bar, Seattle, U. S. A.
Copwight 6p John IV. Brown.
May, A. D., 1909.
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ANNOUNCEMENT
I hf knowlcdKc. cxpluratiun and invasion of Alaska durinK the pasl
twelve years has at last successfully rrvealed its true condition and future pos-
sil)ilili(>s.
I In- fur-seekinR Russians made no accurate maps and little recorded his-
tory; the land-Kral)bin>^ Rnglish explorers and navigators only cruised along
Its shores, naming everything in sight ; the gold-seeking Spanish found no fable
lounlains or glittering gold and hardly left their mark.
All made extravagantly pessimistic or mythical reports and exaggerated
guesses or prophecies.
Thousands of adventurers, searching for the Northwest Passage, for Sir
John Franklin, for fur. fish or gold, lost their lives on its ocean or river shores.
Of lliem history is as silent and unknown as their graves.
After over a hundred years of ownership, the Russians at the time they
sold it (1867), were ready to abandon it as worse than worthless.
Mad it not been for the debt of gratitude due to Russia the Congress
and people of the United Stales would never have acquiesced in its purchase.
For the fiirst ten years the United States made only a formal military
show of authority, with no government, and the following seven years aban-
doned it, providing no law, officers or protection.
No reliable general history has yet been written of Alaska. Numerous
reports and histories of a local nature have been written, however, mostly by
persons officially engaged in or simply passing through the country; and while,
as a rule, they are perfectly reliable as to a particular locality or subject, they
are very unreliable and inaccurate as to the remainder of that country.
Authors residing at Sitka for a year or less, or making a tourist's trip on
the Inside Passage, or doing a little missionary work at one or two places, or
passing down the ^'ukon within a month or two, or spending a summer at Nome,
are very numerous. Their tales of death, starvation, Arctic winter, pitch-dark,
endless nights, insanity-making mosquitoes, bloodthirsty Indians, lands, moun-
tains and rivers of ice and general wail of calamity and terror, followed by
novels of several authors so full of exaggerations and untruthful or mythical
statements, have created a false impression in the minds of the people which
now is very hard to correct.
They are largely to blame for the government's tardy and scant attention
to the needs and laws of the country, for the delays in settling it. utilizing its
resources and wrongfully giving it an unjust history and lamentably untrue
reputation.
The author has devoted three years to diligently seeking information, and
in person or by assistant has visited or investigated as far as possible all parts
and subjects of Alaska.
The important matter collected would till a half dozen large volumes. It
all seems necessary. We have nevertheless summarized it for the purpose of
making a convenient volume for the student, tourists and Alaska miners, as well
as for the general reading public. We hope two years later to present a more
complete history of Alaska than has yet been published from the data for which
this book has been compiled. Although we have brought this publication down
to 1909, events so rapidly succeed each other that we will hardly be off^ the
press before some portions will seem behind the times.
We hope that the information herein, with such as will be imparted
through the Alaska-^'ukon-Pacific Exposition now ready to open at Seattle,
will go far to show Alaska in a true light, and correct the errors and misappre-
hensions so generally prevalent now.
Scatllc. V. S'. A. JOHN W. BROWN.
HEAD NOTE
Physically, Alaska consists of three natural divisions, the climate, people,
commerce, vegetation, etc., of each differing much from the others.
First: The mountainous, timber-covered Pacific Coast, warmed by the
Japanese current, sprinkled by incessant rains, peopled by a Mongolian-Indian
known as the "Siwash" and rich m diversified minerals and fishes.
Second: The treeless Aleutian Islands and tundra-covered slopes of
Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, chilled with long, cold, dark weird Arctic
winters ; poor in meneral ; ice bound in winter, and peopled by Mongolian-
Aleuts and Mongolian-Esquimaux. This strip of land extends inland about
fifty miles from the Arctic seas.
Third: The great interior, with its rigorous continental climate, scanty
rainfall, fertile valleys, big rivers, peopled by the Redman or North American
Indian, containing no trace of Mongolian blood.
The timbers, vegetation, animals, climates and natives can be classed with
those of their kinds to the south and east, differing only as modified by latitude.
We will divide this book into three parts, treating each ol the above naluril
divisions in the order stated.
DIVISION 1
I I II. I'Ai II IC COASr OF ALASKA FROM SEA I IFF lO DIXON
ENIRANCE.
Sealtie is the gateway, iuicl the "Insidr Passage" ihe highway, to Alaska;
therefore we will hegin at Seattle, pointing out some of the most interesting
places and events on the way from Seattle to Dixon Entrance as a prelude.
Early in the summer of 1908 my wife and self left Seattle on a cruise
along the coast and among the islands northward to Cross Sound and Sitka,
gathering information on the way for my Alaska books, including this one.
In the Alaska boom days of 1897-98 every kind of cheap, questionable
craft was employed for the rush to the North, and as they left the Seattle docks
they whistled long and loudly. Friends of the departing waved or sobbed a
feeling last farewell.
Not so now, when almost every boat is safe and comfortable, and many
of them even luxuriantly equipped for the Alaska trade.
The arrival and departure of Alaska boats is a daily occurrence both
winter and summer, causing no more excitement than the coming or going of
one of our transcontinental trains.
Jingle, jingle, jingle! and we backed away. Jingle, jingle! we stopped.
Jingle! we started northward Irom the dock at Seattle for Alaska. These
little signal bells from the captain were about the only audible sounds heard or
made on our large boat, bearing two hundred passengers, in getting her off for
the voyage.
Swiftly we plowed our way up sound. Occasionally our boat gave a
short toot and we passed on our port side ; or two toots, and we passed on our
starboard side an approaching steamer.
In the pioneer days of Mediterranean commerce the steersman sat in the
stern of the craft and held in his hand a steerboard, which he used on his right
to steer the boat. It is almost impossible for a "landlubber" to remember which
is starboard and which port, but if he can recall the position ot the steersman
he will have the starboard on his right looking forward.
As we steamed up Puget Sound we passed several suburban villages, then
Everett and Bellingham, cities of thirty thousand each, where some of the largest
lumber and shingle mills in the world are located, and Anacortes, the head-
quarters for many large fisheries, to our right.
On our port side was the home land of Chief Seattle and his people, a
miserable remnant of which may be found on the Port Madison Reserve near
by. A little farther westward and across Hood's Canal is Jimmicum Valley,
in which lived the Jimmicum tribe, once powerful, of which but one full-blood
now survives. Mr. Bishop, a member of the Legislature of the State of Wash-
ington for years, lives in and owns much of the fertile valley. He is an intelligent
and wealthy man. His mother was one of these natives, whom his father, a
white man. married at a time when all the whites here could be counted on your
fingers.
In the summer ol 1832 the first settlers took up donation land claims where
Seattle now stands, living meanwhile at .Alki Point.
Across the Sound, about twenty miles away, lived Chief Seattle with his
daughter Angeline (ever the friends of the whites), in perhaps the largest tribe
house ever erected by Indians on the Coast, being about a fifth of a mile long.
The next year a sawmill was erected and Seattle platted; the next a post-
office was established, and the third a church erected. From that time to this
the Seattle spirit has never left the city, and instead of adding annual improve-
ments, they became semi-annual, monthly, weekly and daily, until now the city
doubles m population and wealth about every three years. The coming census
will show that it has made greater progress than any other city in the United
States, and that it now has a quarter million population or more.
There were troubles in the early days, however. The Indians, apparently
friendly, secretly conspired with the Klikitats from over the mountains against
the whites, and made a concerted attack, ending in a retreat after they were
shelled by the Decatur then lying in the harbor — 1856.
This was the first and last stand of the Siwash; he went back to digging
clams, and is digging clams still. When the sloop of war Decatur hailed shot
and canister among the trees on the first hill (now the very center of the city),
among the Klikitats, they could not understand the phenomenom and fled in
terror. It is said they returned home on a run, without stopping to camp. They
never formed any more conspiracies with the Siwash to fight the whites.
In later years came the fire which destroyed the business part of the city.
Then the financial panic, which checked its growth. But out of every calamity
and vicissitude came a more vigorous development.
Half of the mining population of Alaska live, or at least winter, in Seattle.
A large part of the gold is invested here, and the head office of every large
Alaskan industry is here.
On March 8, 1791, officers of the British crown commissioned and
instructed Captain George Vancouver to survey the western coast of America
from 30 degrees north latitude northward. In 1 792 he explored and named
about every part of Puget Sound. (See "Vancouver's Discovery of Puget
Sound," by Professor Meany of University of Washington; "Pioneer Days on
Puget Sound," by Arthur A. Denny, and "Indian War of 1855-56," by Alice
Harriman.)
At Port Townsend the boys had a juvenile attack ol the Seattle Spirit.
Although they were not allowed to come aboard, they did a good business in
gum, lemons, etc., by means of a net at the end of a long pole. We took on a
good supply for our feminine pedagogues, and expected cases of seasickness.
Port Townsend is the Port of Entry, and our townsman. Fred Harper,
the Collector of Customs. The custom receipts of but few ports in the United
States are larger.
For 1908 the customs officer reports that Alaska exported to the Lnited
States (including Klondike) $21,087,798 in gold and silver (almost two mil-
lion more than the year before). At the same time Alaska exported to the
United States through this district $12,255,255, practically all fish and fur.
During the same time, through this district, we exported to Alaska $18,000,000.
mostly food and machinery. These figures will serve to give some idea of the
immense Alaska trade on Puget Sound now annually. I he total gold of .Alaska
and the Klondike to dale approximates $250, 000, 000.
Port Townsend has a population of about 7,000. and 2.000 soldiers are
quartered at Forts Warden. Casey and Flagler nearby.
One of the largest and best blocks of standing timber in the United States
occupies the Olympic Peninsula, toward which several large railroads are now
builcling. The rainfall on the north side of the Olympic Mountains is light,
and the climate is almost perfect all the year.
Formidable defenses and powerful modern guns face every side ol the
Strait of Juan de Fuca (named in honor of its supposed discoverer, Juan de
Fuca, a Greek, in 1592, just two hundred years ahead of Vancouver). The
combined navies of the world could not force their way past these forts ; neither
could an tiicmy rrilcr I'uk«-1 .Sound without rominK within their range. All the
forts can be commanded from either one hy table, phone, telegraph, signal or
wireless. I he waters are so charted that a gunner can fire accurately in fog
or at an unseen enemy. The big guns disappear behind impenetrable walls of
stone, earth and roiu rcle. where they ( ;im Ix- reloaded and protected after they
have been discharged.
Behind Port lownsend is the detention island, on the tops of the hills and
forts are wireless instruments for commercial and government use, and out at
the entrance of the straits is I'atloosh Island, with its wire and wireless telegraphs,
busy informing the world in i^enera! and government in particular of all craft
going in and coming out of this doorway to the commercial ports of the North-
west. I his old tide-washed, storm-beaten lattoosh Island is the advance guard.
Its honeycombed, water-made caves were homes, graves or hiding places for
the natives hundreds of years ago, and will bear their marks long after they have
ceased to exist. Some time it may be necessary to strengthen the island w^ith
concrete.
The long Cascade Range to the East, and Olympic Group to the West,
sitting in an evergreen forest primeval; the snow-robed, sky-piercing Ranier to
the South and Baker in the North; the beautiful brown, rugged San Juan
Islands at the East end of the straits and boundless Pacific at the West; the
blue waters of the Sound, framed at its egdes with the white spray of the breakers
and on the banks with the dark green ferns, fir and cedar, makes one ofthe most
beautiful pictures of nature to be found on the face of the earth.
The Canadian steamers going to the States and ours going to Canada
pass and repass with friendly salutes. These, mingling with others of all nations,
make this a busy marine thoroughfare.
In the afternon and evening of the first day out. with the aid of glasses,
we recognized the Parliament Buildings, C. P. R. Hotel and Lord Dunsmuir
Castle at Victoria. The day was still light when we passed Vancouver, near
which the Eraser River empties. On September 30, 1 908, the citizens of New-
Westminster erected a monument to Simon Eraser, who discovered the river one
hundred years before.
Alexander McKenzie crossed the upper waters of this river in I 793 on
his way across the continent, but he thought it was, and reported it to be. the
Columbia.
I believe this river produces more good commercial salmon than any other
in the world. There are dozens of salmon rivers and creeks on this Coast and
in Alaska, but this one should bear the name.
I he Strait of de Euca was a little rough until after -ve passed behind
Vancouver Island, although no cases of seasickness developed. However, a few-
timid ones from the interior of the States went to bed. sucked lemons, shut their
eyes and waited in vain for the feeling to come, and at times declared that they
felt a certain internal uneasiness never felt before, but at last were half ashamed
and half disappointed.
I he day was a perfect one. Ol all the grandeur of this matchless pano-
rama. Mount Baker at one end and Mount Rainier at the other were the grandest
and most awe producing, not even excepting the blue, boundless ocean.
I he sunset was typically western, golden and beautiful; the night clear
and warm: the water smooth, absorbing the colors of the sky and reflecting the
trees from the bank; the songs and laughter had died down; the blanket-robed
tourists had left the upper deck; lunch was over, and but few- persons were to
be seen in the cabins when we retired to our stateroom at the close of the first day.
Nothing was heard but the swish of the water at the prow, and the chug, chug,
chug of the propeller aft. Everything was conducive to sound, restful slumber.
10
We lay in our berth and mused: Is this the land and these the waters of
Maldonado, Fuca, Fonte, Gali, Drake and others, whose mythical reports and
claims of discoveries are seriously questioned? Are these poor, dirty Siwashes
the natives Fuca reported here as being "dressed in skins, rich with gold, silver,
pearls, etc."? How long have these natives inhabited this Coast? They are
not red men; they do not belong to the family of Indians eastward. Where
did they origmate? How long since these titanic cloud-capped peaks were
smokmg volcanoes?
It was an even hundred years from the discovery of America by Columbus
to Fuca's purported discovery of the Straits, and another even two hundred years
(I 792) until the discovery of the Puget Sound by Vancouver, and yet another
hundrded years before it was settled by white men. If the early explorers left
monuments they have never been found. The natives have no tradition of them,
and students of history will always question their fabulous claims. While John
Mears and George Vancouver doubted Fuca's discoveries, they nevertheless
honored them by giving the strait his name.
Steam and gases still arise from the craters of Mount Baker and the tem-
perature, taken m 1908, in the crater of Mount Rainier registered 109 degrees.
Every year new islands and volcanoes are born among the Aleutian Islands.
Two years ago the streets of Nome were covered with volcanic ashes; lava in
recent years flowed freely in the gorges of the Naas River, so that these great
peaks not many centuries in the past were violent vents for a cooling range.
Extensive mounds, not unlike those of the Mound Builders, are well known on
Vancouver Island, mutely testifying to a pre-histonc man. Last summer a stone
ax was found under a tree on Hood's Canal ; the growth of the tree showed over
six hundred years. Other implements have been found among the shell beds
of the San Juan Islands and elsewhere, so placed as to indicate that they had
been there a thousand years or more. It is very evident that when the people
of Europe were still savages the Siwash, or their Mongolian ancestors, made
their home within view of the grandest and loftiest mountain in the United
States, Mount Rainier.
Mexico has its Popocatepetl, Naples its Vesuvius, California its Shasta,
and Japan its Fusiyama, but Puget Sound has its Rainier, the noblest of them all.
In passing up Georgia Gulf one sees here and there a farm, cannerv,
tumble-down Indian village or settlement, but always an unbroken forest of fir
and hemlock.
VANCOUVER ISLAND.
Vancouver Island, rich with the splendid coals of Nanaimo, covered with
a forest of good timber, surrounded with seas of fish, containing many valuable
mines, several important towns, and dotted with farms in the valleys, is one of
the most precious gems of British ownership.
It must now have a population of about 75,000, including 10,000 Indians
of the usual Siwash kind, living the usual Siwash lilc.
Among the residents of this island are many "remittance men," who draw
their periodical allowance and live to spend it. Of all the islands on earth, if
I were banished from home, give me this banishment land for remittance men.
Land, sea, mountains, forests, mines, commerce, parliament, society, ideal climate,
hunting and every facility for amusement and comfort is there. Ella Higgenson.
in her recent book on Alaska, very pathetically writes of a "remittance woman '
as follows: "It is said that the woman who should have one day been the Queen
of England lived near the City of Vancouver a few years ago."
Before the death of his elder brother, the Prince of Wales passionately
loved the young and beautiful daughter of Admiral Seymour. His infatuation
was returned, and so desperately did the young couple plead with the present
kiiiK .111(1 iIh- .tdniir.il lli.il .il l.isl [\\r \ni\Hc was prrrnillrd to conlrati a mor-
Xanatu marriaK*-. I lir undcrslaiiclinK and a«r«Tmcnt was ihat should the prince
ever Ijcfomc the hnr to th»- throne of England neither he nor his wife would
oppose the annulment of the marriage. I'hcre was only one brief year of happi-
ness, when the elder brother of the prince died, and the latler's marriage to the
Princess May was demanded. No murmur of romplaml was ever heard from
the unhappy morganatic wife nor from the royal husband, and when the latter s
marriage was solemnized, it was boldly announced that no bar to the union
existed.
Here, in the western solitude, lived lor several years the veriest remillance
woman — the girl who should now, by the right of love and honor, be the
Princess of Wales, and whose infant daughter should have been the heir to the
throne.
1 o Vancouver, a few years ago, came with his Princess the Prince of
Wales. The city was gay with flags and flowers, throbbing with music and
filled with joyous and welcoming people. Somewhere, hidden among those sway-
ing throngs, did a pale young woman, holding a child by the hand, gaze for
the last time upon the man she loved and upon the woman who had taken her
place. And did her long tortured heart in that hour finally breaks* It is said
she died within a twelvemonth."
. I his island is to Canadian Pacific what Baronov Island is to Alaska, and
^■^■"^ Nootka, on its western shore, is of as much historical renown as ^)itka.
Perez landed at Nootka August 9. I 774, and named it San Lorenzo.
Captain Cook, in 1 778, named it King George Sound. Many other explorers
stopped at this point, and rival trading companies sought the business. In I 788-
89 a Spaniard. Martinez, took exclusive possession for his country, and when a
few months later James Colnet arrived and asserted British right he was arrested
by Martinez and sent a prisoner to Mexico. This act came very near making
serious trouble. One author says: "A few sheds erected on the coast, a miser-
able baston defended by swivel guns, and a few cabbages planted within an
inclosure, came very near causing war between Spain and England." Other
Spanish boats were hurried north, but the strong navy of England at home and
the refusal of George Washington, President of the United States, to assist
Spain were the primary causes of inducement inducing Spain to yield. An
agreement to this effect was signed at Madrid in I 790. known as the "Nootka
Convention." George Vancouver was directed to proceed to Nootka and accept
the surrender of these sheds and cabbages and to survey these coasts, which he
^ did, and Spanish names and claims gave way to those of England through Van-
couver.
The Island ol Quadra became the Island of Quadra and Vancouver, and
later Quadra was omitted. Our own Captain Robert Gray was cruising around
in these waters during this conflict. The Spanish-English dispute ended on the
Pacific with a conlerence bot\veen Quadra and \ ancouver at Nootka. The
\X ashington University State Historical Society, through its secretary. Prof. Ed-
mond S. Meany, erected a monument August 23, 1903. on a small rocky island
in the bay, on which they inscribed the following: "Vancouver and Quadra met
here in August, I 792, under the treatv between Spain and Great Britain of
October, 1790."
Now Nootka, like .'Xlert Bay and other Indian villages near by, is a brush-
covered, decaying reminiscent of a century and a half ago.
Georgia Gulf, sometimes named Georgia Bay or Strait, is almost a sea
and is more like a strait than a gulf. The island is about 300 miles long, and
between it and the land pass the coast vessels on the inside passage. In fact it
is so long that many tourists think it is the entire inside passage.
12
The mineral and geological statements hereafter made concerning the Coast
range will apply to all the range south of Dixon's Entrance. However, there
is a wonderfully productive mineral belt here. The coal of Nanaimo and the
mines at that place are such factors in this country that we can hardly believe
what we see there.
These mines are hundreds of feet under the sea, producing yearly 300,000
tons, and have produced 7,000,000 tons, nearly all of a superior grade of
bituminous coal. Cable, electric, horse and mule cars on more than a hundred
miles of track, run systematically to all prats of the mine. The most modern
devices for protection of the mines and miners against explosion, fire and caving
walls are carried into rigid effect. The coal is divided by a wall of rock, on
one side is the best of bituminous, on the other a lighter coal.
In the early times coal was discovered at Fort Rupert, on the northernmost
point of Vancouver Island, and worked by the Hudson Bay Company, but it is
soft and not of much value. The discovery is said to have been made by an
Indian while trying to roast some venison. He gathered some of the black rock
and placed it around his stick fire to keep the heat near the venison, when to his
surprise the rock burned. This made him curious and he presented some of the
black rock to the Hudson Bay Company men. who soon took charge of the coal
found for their company.
The history of the placer gold of the Fraser River and the stampede to that
country years ago. and then on to the Cassiar and Atlin districts, furnish material
for a large volume, and constitute the connecting link, intervening time and
detailed prospecting between the days of the California '49ers and the Klondike
rush of 97-8.
These shifting, homeless wanderers, like flocks of sheep, invade one district
after another, leaving no home, improvement, town, government or hardly an
account as they pass on. Whatever they find of value they take with them.
Many of these districts are yet rich in placer, and little or no attempt has
ever been made to locate or work the quartz.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLAND.
Queen Charlotte Island and the islands of Hecta Straits add but little
to the mineral wealth of Canada. Likewise the timber, as it becomes softer,
and I am clearly convinced that valuable timber can hardly be lound north of
Vancouver Island. But fish, millions of them, will afTord occupation lor all
the natives and many Orientals and whites for centuries, and with the Alaskan
waters will furnish half the export fish for the United States and a large portion
for domestic use in the United States and Canada.
As we passed from behind the island we came for the first time into the
real swells of the ocean. We had heard and read about rough seas in Queen
Charlotte Sound, but the spirit of the matter did not come over us fully until
we saw the chairs, furniture, dishes, tourists and all kinds ol loose articles mixing
without introduction. We said it must be a bad sea. It was. 1 he swells were
large. We both rolled and pitched, and some of us did other things.
But oh! oh! oh! the swooning of the ship. It went so far down, and
breakfast seemed to strive to come as far up each time. 1 rue. the remedies bore
down hard, but they were too light, and with some other things came on deck
or over the rail. It was the only seasickness on the trip, and but few cases of it.
We soon passed into Hecta Strait, named after Captain Bruno Hecta. a
Spaniard, who explored on the coast in 1775. Queen Charlotte Island again
shut out the swells of the ocean, about half of the tourists took lunch and all
were able to surround the dinner table that evening.
Whale are very numerous in these waters, likewise porpoise, the latter
often playing about the prow ol ihc boat, ,iiul llic lornier somedmos coming
very near.
13
WHAI.i:
I hen- Is ,1 wli.ilc (islicrv .il Iviv. nil llic soudi I'lui ol .Aclmirnlty Island.
L.ilci III tlu" sj-ason \vr look on hoard one of (lie whalers. lie said the whale
wcr«' often as much as seventy-five feel Ioiik. and worth ahout five hundred dollars
each lor oil. baleen, dessicaled hone ferlili/er and many other marketable
products, and from a fish once thouKht to he profitless.
I hat the mother whale gives birth lo her calf al sea, which is then eight
or ten feel long and fairly capable of looking out for itself. I he whale is like
a monster boat with a small engine. It is unable to protect itself from the
smaller fish, escape from man or even dislodge the barnacles that grow upon its
body. I hey are supposed to blow six limes before sounding (or diving). The
whaler approaches in his launch and fires a bomb-pointed harpoon from a cannon
on the prow. 1 he weapon sinks deep and the bomb explodes in five seconds,
spreading out the barbs and making a fatal wound. In its death struggles it
may draw the boat a mile. After death it is towed m or fastened to a buoy, or
inflated with air and later picked up again and towed to the station.
The 1908 catch at this station was over 200, and at Vancouver 600.
1 he latler's catch was given as 241 humpbacks, 66 sulphur bottoms, 10 finbacks
and one sperm whale. Of course, such luck does not apply to the Arctic whaler,
his average being about three per boat each year, but his fish produces the whale-
bone of commerce, worth $5 per pound, and one whale will aggregate several
thousand dollars while these do not.
The whaling industry is reviving, not the old kind, however. Now there
is no danger for the hunter and no escape for the fish. At the rate of a thousand
per year it will not be long until the sight of a whale will be as unusual as of
a buffalo or sea otter. The commercial fever has no more respect for these
leviathans of the deep than it has for the Niagara. It rushes to every part of
this shore, probing the mountains for mineral, hunting the woods for game, har-
nessing the rivers, defacing the God-made pictures of nature, defiling the native
youth with rum. and now depleting the sea of its innocent harmless whale.
THE FUR TRADER.
Sea otter were plentiful near the Island of De la Marguerite, now Queen
Charlotte Island, and here came Perez, in I 774, Hecta, in I 775. Martinez,
in I 778, and many others — French, Dutch, Bostonians, Portuguese and Eng-
lish— to hunt and trade. Barclay, to whom we are much indebted for our
western possessions, had his wife with him — the first white woman to visit this
Coast.
The Spanish, between 1 774 and 1 790, made many marks of ownership
between Mexico and Cooks Inlet. The English also became active. In I 776
John Stringer named Queen Charlotte Sound. The next year Dixon traded at
and named Dixon Entrance. John Mears brought over some Chinese with the
assistance of whom he built the first boat at Nootka and the first English fort.
Although dishonest and dishonorable as a pirate, he made the best claim on the
Coast for England.
The trading scheme in those days was to make cheap trinkets at home,
trade them to the Coast Indians for furs, and the furs to Chinese for teas, and
sell the teas at home or in Europe at enormous profits. Many of these crude
sailing vessels circumnavigated the globe.
The beautiful bays, narrow straits, inland seas, bold bluffs, islands, rivers
and snow-covered peaks bear the names of these fur hunters. As we passed m
and out among these narrow passages and numerous islands I could not con-
ceive how they managed such crude sailing vessels m the strong tides, wind-
14
locked waters, fogs, storms and hidden rocks. With inferior nautical instru-
ments and no charts. I would get lost if I was on foot here on a clear day.
Many times along the inside passage the only way that I could see out was
straight up.
NA'ilVES.
Canneries apear at intervals of about twenty-five miles and near them a
few Indian huts; now and then a small native village. Alert Bay being one of
the largest. A semi-circle of totem poles face the water at about hish tide line,
and back of them a row of shacks also facing the water.
Each shack has a door in the middle and a small window on each side of it.
the whole appearing like a row of animal faces. Its population must be about
five hundred Indians and half as many whites. It has a church or two. mill and
cannery.
A little farther north is the cleanest and most prosperous Indian village on
the Canadian coast, the town of New Bella Bella. It consists almost wholly
of Indians. Instead of the one-story, dilapidated, animal-faced, twenty-five dollar
shack of the Alert Bay Indian, the Bella Bella has a two or more stor>' modem
looking residence, newly painted white, with dull red trimmings, large enough
to accommodate from ten to forty persons.
The canery at this place is a large one and must furnish employment for
about all the population — perhaps 600. The old village of Bella Bella was
deserted a few years ago, and like the rotting totems and grave marks near it
is tumbling down, as many other villages have done and are doing on this coast,
some for fanciful reasons, others because of infection and contagion.
Alexander Mackenzie, the first white man to cross Canada from Hudson
Bay to the Pacific, came out on the coast here, and with red vermilion wrote on
a rock in the sea: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by land, the 22nd of
July, 1793."
During the third day out we entered Dixon Entrance. Here the ocean
swells rolled in between the north end of Queen Charlotte and south end of
Prince of Wales Islands — in other words, between Canada and Alaska.
The Indians named this body of water Kaiganee. The waters were not
rough, as they frequently are. Whale and porpoise were plentiful.
We examined under the glass every foot of shore, as well as every mountain
pass and gorge, for this is the terminus of the Canadian Grand Trunk Railroad
to be completed in 1911. Here is Port Simpson, started in 1821, and Prince
Rupert, just a year old. This is the end of the British and beginning of our
territory — the imaginary line of "54-40 or fight," the old 1825 Russian-English
and new 1903 English-American treaty line.
PRINCE RUPERT.
The Portland Canal separated the mountains just enough to pull the Inter-
national Boundary Line through, and which passes on out toward the sea so
as to give Wales Island and another small island, which makes a sort of a pro-
tection for these new harbors to Canada. They certainly need them for their
harbor protection, which is not good.
Extensive improvements are being made at Prince Rupert. One blast of
forty tons of explosives in February, 1909, blew a whole bluff into the channel.
Both Canadian and American boats will call at this port this summer, the travel
and traffic will be large, and many tourists will invest in town lots. \X'hen this
road is completed and a branch built to Dawson this port will be a busy one.
It will have the shortest route across Canada and from Europe to the Orient. It
will tap the rich coal fields, the farming; and ( allle country and timber resources
of the Northwest Territory.
15
I he fish industry of llif ( anadian Pacific is capable of an annual income
of five million dollars, and ihc K"ld output of Dawson as much more.
1 he new town has a |)opulation of a thousand now. mostly in tents, but
111 twenty-five years it will have twrnty-fivc thousand i)opulation or more and
some of the trade of Vancouver.
Years ago when Frederick Schwatka visited here he wrote that the Cana-
dian Pacific Railroad was after a ri^ht of way aloni? the Skeena River. Political
struj<(j;les betwcn that road and the Grand I runk have been numeruos and
titanic since then. I en or fifteen years ago the Canadian Parliament authorized
the Hudson Bay and Western Railway to build from Fort Churchill, on Mudson
Bay. the eastern terminus of the Hudson Bay ( ompany, to Port Simpson on
the Pacific, the western terminus of tha t company, entirely spanning the greatest
private empire of this or any other continent. 1 he land of Mackenzie, Peace,
Strathcona. Sir Donald Prince Rupert and others, fearless and lordly princes,
in their own domain, lords of all they surveyed.
No more fitting name could have been chosen for this new port, destined
to be the largest Canadian city inside of a hundred years, than that of Prince
Rupert, who received the first grant from the King, in I 669, of all this domain,
and who was afterward first governor of the Hudson Bay Company. To him
should be erected the largest monument in Canada.
Grand is and successful will be the scheme to connect the Atlantic and
Pacific with a railroad so distant from the United States, so naturally fortified
on its western terminus, so direct and short for transcontinental traffic, and so
surrounded with resources of sea, mine, farm and forest.
The opening of the Orient to trade, the building of the United States
Pacific navy, the power of the Japanese navy, and the growth of the west will
cause England to restore and increase the naval facilities at Esquimault or else-
where near, and keep on this coast a navy equal to the United States or Japan.
When Edward Pierrepont in I 883 visited here he had the same inspiration that
I have, he coveted it for his own country.
The presidential issue of "54-40 or fight" was a warm one between politi-
cal parties, but a warmer one, if possible, between England and the States.
That isue was left to James Buchanan, our Secretary of State, and Richard
Packinham. British Minister to this country, the result of which (1846) we
all know.
Mr. Pierrponl enthusiastically remarks that "it ought to have made the
minister a duke, and placed the secretary in disgrace." As we gather more facts
and history of early settlement, trade and claims, we are inclined to concede
like Buchanan to Packinham's theory.
If the Spanish had obtained justice at the Nootka Convention, the coast,
from California to Dixon Entrance at least, would belong to Spain. If the Rus-
sian traders and explorers would have made claim, history and record of their
rights from the beginning, I believe Alaska would extend to California. If the
issue of "54-40 or fight" had prevailed the sentiment of so large a per cent of
the people of the States and Canada at the time would have made annexation
very probable. But that little word "if" is written all over Dixon Entrance,
and the issues have passed into history.
In a few years Prince Rupert will be a large city and the statues of Rupert
and Packinham will stand on its public squares. If James Buchanan was in
error, then later, as President, he did some better, lor which statues may be
elsewhere erected to him. The population of Prince Rupert will be typically
western, and more like Seattle than Canada or England. Our boats and people
will be as numerous as theirs. There will be no national strife, but the compe-
tition of trade will be keen.
16
THE ALASKA BOUNDARY LINE.
For a century the boundary line has been of serious importance to nations,
but the discovery of gold in the Klondike, some on our and more on the Canadian
side of the line, made it necessary to fix it definitely.
At the time we were insisting on our rights of discovery m this Northwest
Russia would have been highly pleased if we had extended the "Oregon
Country" to the Alaska line, entirely shutting England off from the sea. In
I 822-25 England and Rusia agreed upon a boundary tribunal which fixed the
line practically as it is now, without marking it.
At that time the English members contended for the whole Alaska pan-
handle. Failing in that, they urged that the coast line was the outer coast of
the islands, leaving nothing but a fringe of islands for Alaska, but at last yielding
to every point, and bemg entirely cut off from all the waters north of Dixon
Entrance.
For boundary commissioners in 1903 the United States appointed Secre-
tary Root, Senator Lodge of Massachusetts and Senator Turner of Washington;
Great Britain selected Lord Chief Justice Alverston and Canada chose Jette
and Aylesworth. They convened in London September 3d and rendered a
decision October 20th, 1903. The commissioners for the United States and
England practically agreed that the line was practically where we contended.
The commissioners for Canada (like the press of their country) were ver\' poor
losers, refusing to sign any report or finding.
No case has ever been more ably argued or exhaustively presented than
this one, before the tribunal of 1825, unless it was the presentation of the same
issues before the commissioners of 1903.
The treaty of 1825 was drawn in French. The 1903 English advocates
argued long on the interpretation and construction of the words "crete-crest,"
"cote-coast," "lisiere strip" and the like. The maps of George Vancouver were
used in fixing the line by the commission of 1825, which showed a continuous
line of mountains parallel with the coast (so have many subsequent geographers).
The fact IS that the mountain range is not continuous nor parallel to the coast,
although it would have that appearance to a person cruising near the coast. 1 his
was also a reason advanced by them for their construction of the Treaty of 1825,
and every other possible contention that skilled diplomats and shrewd lawyers
could make was presented. Maps from the archives and antiquated vaults of
all nations were dug out, compared and discussed.
On February 25th, 1903, the Fifty-seventh Congress appropriated
$ 1 00,000 for the expense of the boundary commission. Ihe decision gave to
Canada Wales (not Prince of Wales) and Pearse Islands, at the elnrance to
Port Simpson, and Sitklan Island to the L^iited States.
A well defined and permanently marked boundary lino is now being estab-
lished on the ground, so that it need never again be disputed.
The international questions for these waters are not all settled yet. how-
ever. In time, as fish become more scarce or the industry more extensive. Cana-
dians and Americans will jealously contend for exclusive rights in the waters
on and near their own coasts, and the hundreds of island passages. I o settle
these contentions their respective governments, together with the British govern-
ment, must decide upon, mark and patrol the "open sea" and "three-mile
limits." If one nation fosters and propagates the fish at its expense, and limits
the catch while the subjects of the other have unlimited authority to take the
fish, the issue will soon be as grave and annoying as the seal question. Some
small dirty fishing craft will sometime eagerly pursue a school of splashing
salmon, and in its haste carry a weather-beaten, ten-cent flag, without courtesy.
17
beyond tlir limits of a patrol or national line, and become the target for a cruiser.
Hie trial will bririK up national or individual rights whicli may bo heard in
Washington, London or Otlawa, or provoke international war.
FROM DIXON KN IRANCf-: lO COOK'S INLET.
As wr steamed over the l)ounclary lim* into Alaska, or Al-ak-shak (great
land), as it was called by the I'.sc|uimaux, ( aplain Nord, of the steamship Dol-
phin, ordered the whistle lied down for awhile. By the way, no more careful
captain nor more accommodating company than the Alaska Steamship Company
ever sailed boats along this coast.
I he Portland Canal and Skeena River are gorges left by great glaciers,
the marks of which are still visible, and their moram and debris will be the
building ground for a city. The geology, traditions and natives of Naas River
are interesting subjects, but with many others must be passed by in this short
narrative.
As we cross Dixon Entrance to the northeast is the famous Behms Canal,
to the westward Duke. Annett, Gravinao and smaller islands by the hundred,
for we are in the very middle of the Alexandrian Archipelago, the map of which
looks like it had been used as a target for a double-barreled shotgun loaded with
all kinds of shot and slugs. 1 here are bays, channels and straits like spiderwebs
in every direction. The islands rise up abruptly from the water five hundred
to five thousand feet. It is impossible to see through, around or over them, and
as easy to get lost as in a Palace of Mirrors. The Thousand Islands of the
St. Lawrence are here multiplied tenfold, magnified a million times and beautified
beyond description.
We are hardly over the line before we reach Revillagigedo Island, so
named by Vanocuver, and here, on the narrow beach at the foot of a for-^st-
covered mountain, flanked by Indian shacks, graves, totems and canneries, is
Ketchikan.
KETCHIKAN.
Sawmills, canneries, schools, churches, newspapers, stores, cable and wire-
less stations, and many comfortable homes border the narrow planked street, or
rather walk, huddled together as though in fear of the sea, mountain and natives
entirely surrounding it. But small as it is, it is the metropolis of the country
about it, recipient of no inconsiderable trade, and the center of the American
fishing industry, and mines on Prince of Wales Island near by on the westward.
Small boats to and trom the mines and canneries tie up and trade
every hour, and large boats from Seattle every day. The cannery employes
are about equally Indian, Jap and Chinese, with a few white managers.
The Indians and Mongolians are renewing their blood relationship. It is im-
possible to tell the nationality of some of these cannery children, and often I
have been unable to distinguish the nativity of their parents.
Ketchikan has about a thousand population, including three hundred In-
dians, a few Japs, and Chinese. Generally speaking, it, like all the other modern
villages and towns on the Alaska coast, is but a handful of Seattle. The big
cannery, the mill, the water works, Indian shacks and totems, and by all means
the curio stores, are interesting sights for the tourist, who is very hungiy for some-
thing of the kind by the time he reaches here on his third or fourth day out. and
they are indeed worth the cost and time of the voyage. Scow load after load
of salmon, still flopping, arrive at the cannery and can be watched until they are
in the can ready for market. I asked what they paid for them, and was told
ten cents per Sockeye. seventy-five cents per hundred for Dog, and a little more
for Humpback. For those who have a few days' time between boats, a most
enjoyable recreation could be had by going to the cannery and hsh hatchery at
Loring, on Naha Bay, where Vancouver repaired his injuries after being well
whipped by the Indians at Traitor's Cove near by. The scenery can hardly be
excelledOld Fort Tongass, occupied from 1867 to 1877, was on the American
side of Dixon Entrance.
METLAKAHTLA.
From Ketchikan the Seattle boats usually go to Metlakahtla. but a few
miles' distant on Annett Island. The Indian development at New Bella Bella,
Sitka and Kodiak is remarkable, but here it is marvelous.
An hour's talk with Mr. Duncan will never be forgotten, and two or three
days spent waiting for another boat will not be long or regretted.
The cannery, like everything here, is the cleanest in Alaska. 1 he most
wonderful chapter in the history of missionary endeavor, in civilizing the Indian,
is that relating to the work of Wm. Duncan at Metlakahtla on Annett Island,
Alaska. An hour's run from Ketchikan, two from Prince Rupert, six or seven
from Wrangell, and three days from Seattle.
Between 1 850 and 1 860 the Indians, made intemperate by the Hudson f
Bay Company, then robbed by it, became malicious toward the whites. Fhey^
were canabals, murderers, polygamists, believed in witchcraft, and had slaves,
ate their food raw usually, and lived almost like beasts.
In 1856 Captain Provost, who was patrolling the English waters between
Russian and American territory, returned to London and reported this state of
affairs and incidentally wrote a newspaper request for missionaries. The result
was the equipment of young Duncan from a training school through the Church
of England. After a long trip around the Horn and some preparations at Vic-
toria, Mr. Duncan commenced systematically at Fort Simpson.
He was opposed by the Shamen (medicine men and witch doctors),
because he interfered with their business; by the Hudson Bay Company, because
he destroyed their liquor trade and shameful practices; by the chiefs and influ-
ential Indians because he abolished slavery and polygamy; and, most lamentably
of all, by his own church, the Church of England, because he knew better than
to introduce some of the dogmas and doctrines of that church to his savage
converts.
Hardly more than a boy, a stranger to the native language, opposed by
every one, but with a real Christian message, inspiration and indomitable courage,
he began the herculean task, which from that day to this, under his personal
supervision, has evolved these most barbarous savages of the woods to a grade
of civilization and Christianity that will compare favorably with any village in
North America of 1,500 population, in Christianity, temperance, industry- and
integrity.
Their homes, buildings, streets and general appearance have the honor ol
being better than any other Indian village known, and far superior to some of
the white villages in Alaska and elsewhere, for that matter.
On May 27th, 1862, six large canoe loads ol Indians joined the colony
on Metlakahtla Island in Canada, and many others rapidly followed, increasing
their number to about a thousand. They had a church, school, cannery, soap
factory and other industries. This place was about seventeen miles from Port
Simpson, on the location of an ancient Tsimpsean village, of which tribe the
settlement is mostly composed, and the famous Legaic was their chief. I he
members subscribed to the following rules:
I . To give up Ahlied or Indian deviltry.
2. To cease calling in Shamen, or medicine men. when sick.
3. To cease gambling.
4. To cease giving away then property tor display (potlatches).
19
3. I o cease painting iheir faces.
(>. I o coaso incliil^in^ in inloxK almi< drinks.
7. I o rest on tlic .S,il)l)all).
H. I () iillcnci icIi^;k)Us mslruc tion.
'). i () send llini cluldren to school.
10. I o l)c cleanly.
11. I o be industrious.
12. I o be peaceful.
13. In build neat houses.
14. If) pay the village tax.
Several authors have published a letter, written early by Mr. Duncan to
Sir James Douglass, which with reference to paying taxes, says in part: "On
\cu ^ cars Day the male inhabitants came cheerfully forward to pay the village
tax. which I had proposed to levy annually, viz. : One blanket or two and one
hall dollars for such as had attained manhood, and one shirt or one dollar for
such as had approached manhood. Our revenue this year amounts to one green,
one blue and ninety-four white blankets, one pair of white trousers, one dressed
elk skin, seventeen shirts and seventeen dollars."
The Bishop of the Church of England tried to compel these people to take
the Lord's Supper and observe some of the forms of the church. Mr. Duncan
knew that to d oso would undo the work already done; the rupture caused a
withdrawal from the church and the beginning of a new colony.
I he Canadian Government took sides with the church and assisted it in
confiscating all their homes, industries and church property. Mr. Duncan, with
the assistance of such men as Dr. Sheldon Jackson and Henry Ward Beecher,
induced the Government of the United States (under which one can worship
» according to the dictates of his own conscience) to give them Annett Island,
their present home, to which they removed and commenced anew in 1887.
Books, good furniture and music may be found in almost every home. Their
brass band is known throughout the coast, where it has given concerts.
Although Mr. Duncan is now 77 years old, I found him this summer
(1908) in perfect health, inspecting the cannery and other work, paying the
men, caring for the sick, adiTiinistering the law and expounding the Gospel.
He had solved the problem of civilizing the Indian. What he has done
]y' can be done again. He said the most important factors are: "Prohibit the use
of intoxicating liquors; allow the Indian to assume Christianity as he abandons
his own practices, and third, give him a square deal." Full civilization has
been reached from the lowest savagery in the life of one man. without the aid
of a church or mission. Through Mr. Duncan these pepole are paying their
own way and working out their own salvation. Mr. Sessions, in his book pub-
lished in 1890, and Daisy M. Stromstadt, in a neat little pamphlet published
in 1907, describe Mr. Duncan's work more fully, and a complete publication
to date will be out this summer (1909).
RIVALLAGIGEDO ISLAND AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY'.
This is a large island containing over a thousand square miles, almost sur-
rounded by Behm Canal. On upper Thorn Arm, about thirty miles southeast
oi Ketchikan, quite extensive gold quartz mine developments have been made,
by drifting, cross cutting, damming and piping of water, etc. A small stamp
mill was erected here in 1902. A little farther down the Arm are extensive
quantities of uniform garnets, some of which the tourists carry away on every
boat.
George Inlet, a little nearer Ketchikan, has a few gold prospects, and
Tongass Narrows, still nearer, has about the same. In the vicinity of the gold
prospects and mines some good marble has been located, but not worked.
20
The Unuk River, on which gold was discovered in I 870, empties into the
head of Behm Canal. It is of considerable size, short and very rapid, and for
the most part lying in Canadian territory. A wagon road has been built on its
banks for the purpose of developing mines. In the times oi gold excitement in
Cassair, Atlin and Klondike districts, prospectors found their way in along this
stream to the headwaters of the Iskut River over a low divide, as they also did
by the way of the Stikeen, Skeena and Taku. There are several hct and cold
mineral springs in this vicinity.
Cleveland Peninsula, a large, mountainous, timber-covered spur lying on
the north side of Behm Canal and south side of Ernst Sound, and east side of
Clarence Strait, has many gold quartz prospects, but onlv one extensive improve-
ment, which is on the Gold Standard Group, at Helm Bay, where a five-stamp
waterpower mill has been installed, and considerable gold obtained. A vein
from six inches to six feet in width and a thousand feet long is exposed. Duke
Island and Annett Island, to the south of Ketchikan, have no mineral develop-
ments, although James Bawden reported profitable gold on Annett Island in
1892. Mr. Duncan has been opposed to miners prospecting on the island, be-
cause they endanger the missionary work he is doing there. On the west side
of Tongass Narrows, opposite Ketchikan, is Gravina Island, of considerable size,
but of little mineral importance, although some gold and copper prospects have
been found at Valenor Bay on the north, and Dall Head and Seal Cove on the
south end. The narrow channel and rugged scenery known as Tongass Narrows
IS pictureseque in the extreme. Excepting those about the canneries, the natives
are poor and few.
PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND.
I he most valuable island ol Alaska (excepting Douglass) is the Princel
of Wales Island. It should not be confused with the small island of \X'ales
near by on the Canadian side of the boundary line.
It contains almost three thousand square miles, and for a hundred miles
it shelters the peaceful Clarence Straits from the storms of the ocean. On every
side it is indented with most excellent harbors, the homes for centuries of numer-
ous natives, and ports of safety and rendezvous for lur traders from the days
of Perez and Cook.
Historic, Shakan, Klawak, Howkan, Sukkwan, Klinkan and other noted
native Haidah towns are each marked by a row of totems at the tide line, and
a row of shacks back of them. A picture of any one would be a picture of
every one.
The native man at one time proudly carved his totems, potlatch bouls and
canoes, hideously painted his face and house in the most brilliant colors, and
frantically combatted the imaginary devils of every ill. The native squaw deftly
worked into the garments the family or tribe badges, totems or traditions, and
performed the menial duties of slave for the whole family. How difTeronI now!
1 he days of the savage customs, sea otter and fur trader are over; the mission-
ary, church, cannery, postoffice, general store and miner have taken llu-ir places.
A visit to or sight of these one-time homes and totems ol a flourishing
people is circumstantial evidence, convincing beyond a reasonable doubt, that the
native race will ere long have disappeared.
Many of the old villages are entirely deserted; all are largely so. I he
old chiefs have died; new ones have not been chosen; dances and potlatches are
infrequent; tribal laws are broken and abandoned; diseases of pulmonary and
rheumatic natures are prevalent. These are a lew of the signs of the demise of .
the Mongolian-Indian race on the Pacific.
21
On the west side of the island is a lar^c numluT of smaller islands of little
known importance, the largest of which is Dalls Island. A low pass only ahoul
150 feel hi^h crosses the island conneclinK f ietla inlet on iIk- wesi with C hol-
montlelay Sound on the east.
I he apex of the range ol inounl.uns is reached al the sutnmii of ( opper
Mountain, 3,800 feel above the sea.
Glacial marks appear everywhere, but no glaciers arc known in the memory
of men; beautiful small lakes are numerous at all altitudes; long arms of the sea.
safe and convenient for trans[)ortation ; warm winds from the ocean current and
numerous Indian villages, are interesting subjects, no detailed history or descrip-
tion ol which has ever been written, although the field is a very inviting one.
I he island is rich in mineral and stone; copper has been the most valuable
— it is a low grade copper-iron sulphide. Many of the mines are worked no
more than is nocrssarv to hold them ; others are abandoned from time to time.
IK iWKAN"
or made fraudulently to appear valuable for the purpose of million-dollar capi-
talizations, the stock of which is sold to "confidential" friends or gullable "suck-
ers." as was done to my knowledge by the Grindall Mining Company.
Niblack. Copper Mountain, Hadley, Jumbo and other Prince of XX'ales
properties are well known on this coast. They have certainly had their ups and
downs. The Mamie Mines are connected with the Hadley Smelter by 6,000
feet of ariel way, and the Stevenson Mine is connected with the Mamie by a
1 .000-foot or more tram, and boats from other mines bring oar. On the whole
the project is a very large one. and after litigation and trouble, I was much
pleased to see it opened up again in 1908.
Marble, pure white, light blue and blue veined, is found al many locations
in this district, and some of the mines or quarries, such as the Alaska Marble
Company, near Shakan, are producing beautiful blocks of commercial marble.
The lime is not far distant when the coast can be supplied from these quarries.
A variety of grades and kinds of granite and building stone can be easily found,
but we have no market for them yet.
11
WRANGELL AND VICINITY.
The Indians do not know, and history will never chronicle the date when
Wrangell was first an Indian village. The Russians established a post here in
I 833. It is named in honor of a director of the Russian- American Fur Com-
pany, who was Governor General of Alaska during the period of his directorship,
1840-9. In going up the coast this is the first opportunity one has to see some
trace of the Russians, and although it is but little, still one is anxious to see for
the first time a creole, some old kitchen utensil, or any mark of their habitation,
however dimly it may appear now.
The old deserted Indian village, graves and totems are fair samples of their
kind at fifty other places on the coast, and the most convenient of access. No
tourist should pass through Wrangell without remaining over between boats.
The village had its "up and downs." First, a frontier Russian post, en-
joying the activities of the sea otter trade; then after being almost deserted, it
was boomed by the gold excitement of Cassair District, and after that had
passed, and for some years, being nothing more than a sleepy relic of curosity
to tourists, it was suddenly revived again by the Klondike rush of 1897-8, many
of the prospectors going in by way of the Stikine River, twelve miles above town.
Gold was discovered on this river as far back as 1862, the first reports of which
are in House Documents I 77 of the second session of the Fortieth Congress.
The Cassair discoveries about ten years later brought hundreds of miners to
Wrangell, and these prospected on every side, staking numerous claims of gold
and copper.
The Hudson Bay Fur Company trespassed on this Russian territory by
the way of the Stikine, and came near causing open hostilities, which were
happily settled f)y leci^ing it from the Russians, and Wrangell from 1837 to
1847 was a Hudson Bay trading post. The population of all kinds is about
1 ,200. The curio trade is good, and the fish industry is large. Scow Bay is
the largest halibut shipping port in Alaska. It is a supply station for canneries
and mines, and a boat runs up the Stikine in summer, to I elegraph C reek.
Wrangell is on a small island of the same name, and just above it is another of
the same size, Zarembo. named in honor of a Russian officer by Wrangell in
recognition of his services m frustratiny the encroachments of the Hudson Bay
Company. It has a spring at which water is bottled and sold at Seattle and
elsewhere ; ask for Zarembo water.
Northwest of Wrangell is Mitkof Island; .southwest. Zarembo; south.
Woronkof ski ; in fact, Wrangell is surrounded with islands, capes, etc., bearing
Russian names, in the midst of which is Petersburg, on Wrangell Narrows.
23
ulu-ic lishinK craft of every kind assemhlc, where miners and trappers come to
trade or catch a hoat. where Indians and Orientals work or fish side by side,
where game is plentiful, and the scenery unsurpassed.
We passed through many straits, channels and narrows; Stephens Pass,
with its bold rocks in the cracks of which, dwarfed, twisted and starved spruces
twine their roots in search for nourishment and to hold themselves from precipi-
tation into the sea; Granville Straits, where the shores are so near that we can
almost touch the trees on both sides, and streams of snow water dash for thou-
sands of feet down from snow-covered summits reared almost perpendicularly
above us; and I ongass Narrows, so densely robed in evergreen forest, with here
and there peeping vestiges of the I ongass natives. But of all. the Wrangell
Narrows are the most interesting. The steamers whistle, and whistle and whistle
as a warning to other boats not to enter the dangerous passage at the same time.
If the tide is out a moderately large boat must wait for more water and go in
on the incoming tide. A dangerous rock lies hidden at one of the most danger-
ous places. 1 he strong tide currents are likely to swing the vessel out of the
narrow channel, and at times the propeller kicks up the muddy water. The hulks
of other vessels still visible on the rocks continually remind the pilots of the peril,
particularly that of the Colorado, which went on the rocks in 1900. An enor-
mous whisky sign spans the length of the stranded wreck, always creating some
merriment for the pleasure-seeking tourist, but to others it is synonomous of a
whisky sign just as red and visible on the stranded life and fortune of thousands
of most noble men. The expense to the Government for clearing and improving
this channel would be less than the amount of loss already; so would be the cost
of prohibiting the sale of intoxicants for beverages be less to the Government
than either the police expenses, costs of criminal trials, or losses of private for-
tunes, not to include the physical pain, and domestic trouble.
The Stikine River has been a thoroughfare to Indian, trapper, trader and
miner for years. Some gold is found along the stream, and countless glaciers
and rugged mountains are on every hand. A little north of the mouth of the
river is LeConte Bay and Glacier, and farther, at intervals of ten miles, is Pat-
terson and Baird Glaciers, about which great icebergs float at all times. The
peak above Baird Glacier is Devil's Thumb, and above the others is Kate's
Needle; they are Alaska boundary marks. Farragut Bay at the east end of
Frederick Sound is noted for its abundant salmon and halibut. In these waters
many of the small Arctic cod boats fish in winter, and with them the smaller
halibut boats, perfectly safe from the ocean storms of the season, while in mid-
summer they go on the outside.
Some of the richest quartz samples that I have seen from Alaska came
from the hills back of Farragut Bay. The small mountain stream running into
the bay affords excellent power, and here are a thousand acres of bottom land,
unexcelled in fertility; it will produce five tons of timothy or other grass per acre,
with a market near always reay to pay $25 per ton or more. The same land
will, I believe, average 300 bushels of potatoes to the acre, and will grow many
other crops, with a yawning market ready at all times. This land and much
other like it can be homesteaded. and will be in a few years. It is not lonesome
here, as canneries, mines and other industries, and several villages can be reached
in two or three hours' run of a good naphtha launch.
Going from Wrangell northward. Kupreanof Island, on the west side of
the narrows and at the head of Duncan Canal, is highly mineralized, in gold,
copper and silver, and several mines have been extensively developed, deep shafts
sunk, buildings, trams and wharves erected, and large sums expended, but it is
a mixed lo\v-grade quartz proposition, which will not be profitable until some
one solves the economical problems as at Treadwell, then here, on Prince of
Wales Island and in many other places on this coast, will be millions and millions
24
of gold, copper and silver. These mines, generally speaking, are not profitable,
and but few are worked at all, even after machinery has been installed. The
famous Kake Indian village is on Hamilton Bay on the north end of Kupreanof.
On the southwest of this island is Kuiu Island, on which no gold has been found,
but a little coal. On Coronation Island several shafts have been sunken in Ga-
lena prospects. The Star of Bengal, loaded with salmon, was lost on the rocks
of this island September 20, 1908, and I I 1 persons were drowned, and 127
saved.
As we were passing Cape Fenshaw, emerging from Frederick Sound and
entering Windham Bay, a conspicuous mountain appeared as a landmark for
miles around. It was Mt. Sumdum, about 7,000 feet high. Were we on its
summit we could see over the Cassair gold district in Canada; to the northward,
Tracy Arm encircles its base for twenty miles, piercing the range deeply ; south-
ward is Endicott Arm, into the end of which Dawes Glacier discharges millions
of tons of bergs; on the opposite of the Arm is Windham P. O. and Sumdum,
in the vicinity of which are a few miners' and Indians' shacks. Truly, this
would be a most ideal trip for a summer mountaineering club. The view over
the Alexandrian Archipelago would include as much of Southeastern Alaska
as could be seen from any one point, in addition to which a sweeping panoramic
view could be had of that vast Canadian country over which so many prospectors
traveled from the headwaters of the Skeena, Stikeen, Unuk and Taku Rivers
to Teslin and the upper waters of the Yukon.
Every creek, bench and rock for ten miles around Sumdum has been pros-
pected. In I 869 Mix Sylvia discovered gold on W indham and Sumdum Bays,
and the gold taken from here, about $40,000, was the first gold oi importance'
taken from Alaska. Both placer and quartz mines have been developed and
perhaps a million dollars taken out. A ten-stamp mill was run for several years,
a 3,000-foot tunnel was dug, and extensive improvements made. At present
there is but little mining in this vicinity.
Here as everywhere on this range the great cone center is an intrusive
diorite, possibly mineral-producing, but not highly mineralized, extending half
way down the mountain, where it meets a shistose sedimentary rock, or the fruitful
"green-stones," between which contact and the water level gold is usually found.
Admiralty Island, toward the sea, seems to be a big chunk of low-grade
nothing; the rock of the island is in part of cretaceous period of miocene epoch,
likely to produce coal, and in fact coal signs are numerous, and a little gold has
been found on the north, and some copper.
Killisnoo, the large Indian village once bombarded by Capt. Glass (Ad-
miral Glass, recently decesade) for insubordination, was one of the earliest fishing
and fur trading stations. The Northwest Trading Company shipped fish oil
from there twenty years ago. Its present commercial imiiortance is perhaps great-
er than any other Indian village m Alaska.
nil. jUNKAU GOLD BKi;i.
I hi» gold Ix-ll iiiiis from StniKJuni to Bcrners Bay, the gold being usually
found m llie gr«Tii-sloiu- In-il promiscuously. Going northward from the mmes
on llic mainland already mentioned, the ne.xl of nnportant e are the Snetti.sham
Mme.s to the n^'hl of Stephens Pass, where a smelter has been operated at times
since 1901. and from which $ I ()(),()()() has no doubt been taken. laku Inlet
and (jiacier are about twenty miles farther north, where many of the tourist boats
stop to view the glacier, of marvelous beauty, hear the roar of falling ice and
view the fields of blue and green icebergs. After crossing this inlet we enter the
immediate vicinity of Gold C reek. Sheep Creek and Treadvvell, where half the
purchase price of Alaska is produced in gold every year, although the rock is
not so rich in gold per ton as at many other places.
I he successful production of gold from this belt again diminishes from
here northward along Lynn Canal to Berners Bay, where considerable develop-
ment has taken place during the last ten years. Three stamp mills have been
erected at Comet, or along Sherman Creek above it, to which a small railway
has been built, and a million or more dollars has been taken out in gold. At
intervals of five or ten miles from Juneau northward are Salmon and Lemmon
Creeks. Mendenhall River, McGinnis. Peterson and Windfall Creeks, each cut-
ting substantially the same rock as Gold and Sheep Creeks. In the late eighties
these streams were thoroughly prospected and both quartz and placer finds were
numerous. "Old Diggins." wrecked mining cabins, sluice boxes and even stamp
mills he rotting in the brush of the gorges, telling their own history; nevertheless
many thousands of dollars have been taken out of these small camps. The enor-
mous granite core of the range reaches Lynn Canal above Berners Bay and this
seems again to prove that gold need not as a rule be expected within it, no gold
being produced again until the range has been crossed, and the belt of older
rocks reached on the east side, or in the Porcupine district. On the north side
of Lynn Canal some encouraging prospects have been developed at Lituya Bay
by the Lukan family, whose lives have been endangered once by starvation and
once by being blown out to sea in a small boat, without foor for a week.
The glacier covered Fairweather range, and mountains to the north rise
abruptly from the sea, affording no lodging place in the precipitous streams for
placer, and making the country difficult to prospect. No mineral worth mention
is known on the coast until near the Copper River and Prince W^illiams Sound,
except a little placer at Lituya and Yaktag.
TREADWELL.
As we steamed up Gastineau Channel, on the left was the town of Douglass
and the 1 readwell Mines on Douglass Island, which I suppose was named in
honor of John Douglass, who prepared some of Cook s notes, aftersvard becom-
ing Lord Salisbury, being again honored by the name of Salisbury Sound.
No doubt the Russian fur traders explored this country, but they made no
record of it. Quadra took possession for Spain in 1 775, particularly of Salis-
bury Sound, Chicagonoff and Krugoff Islands. But Cook and Vancouver made
the first reliable maps, renaming everything in sight.
Jumbo Mountain, behind Treadwell, is 3.333 feet high. Ditches and
flumes like a network catch the waters of the island, convey them to the mines,
where they run 200 of the 880 stamps, the largest mills of the kind in the world.
Mining developments commenced here in 1882. and nearly ever since the
powerful trip hammers have been pounding the rock into dust day and night.
For a mile and a half along the channel, and many feet under it. rock is
being taken out. aggregating approximately i 00.000 feet in extent of workings.
10.000,000 tons of rock, and $30,000,000 gold.
26
27
.\llli(nit-:li llic |>i(K('ss nf saving ihc koIcI requires pulverization, amalgami-
/atioii, (onreiilr.ilion and snielhnK. and a Ion of rock contains but aljoul three
dollars of ^oid value, iieverllicless the system and economy employed saves almost
ImII (iI it as a net orolil.
I he records show that John 1 leadwell pur( hased the mine from F^ierrc
Joseph Mrussard (f'rench Pete) September 13, I H8 1 for $5.
1 he company owns many of the tenant houses, employes forcit^n labor, and
occasionally has a strike. Wars ago [• rcnch Pete was the cause of much trouble
and a tragedy. About the same time the miners sold licjuor to the Indians,
then took their squaws to the dances, which in time resulted in a battle. f hese
are about the only ruflles in ihe even running history of this titanic mining plant.
JUNEAU.
■'In the spring ol I H8() N. A. luller of Sitka, on the strength of a favor-
able report ot John Muir (for whom Muir Glacier is named), sent Joe Juneau
and Richard Harris to investigate ^ * ^ They, with three Indian guides,
arrived at Windham Bay in May. located some quartz, and piospected lo Gold
Creek (above Juneau) and Silver Bow Basin, from which they took 1,000
pounds of auriferous quartz, and staked both placer and quartz mines, which
caused an excitement.
"On November 26th a party of thirty started from Sitka, arriving Decem-
ber 6th. 1880. founding the town of Juneau. It was first called Rockwell, then
Harrisburg. and on December 14th. 1881. was named Juneau, and was the
center of the first Alaska gold rush."
The quartz of Gold and Sheep Creeks should repeat the production of
Treadwell. They are picturesquely located on the high mountain sides, among
the glaciers above the town, across the channel from Treadwell. No! Juneau
has none of the appearances of a miners' town — peaceful, good schools, cable
and wireless to the outside world, boats almost every day all the year from
Seattle, newspapers, and the conveniences of a modern city.
It is also said to be the capital of Alaska, although the buildings do not
assume a capital appearance, and it is rumored that the Government is of a
portable kind, usually found in Washington. D. C.
LYNN CANAL.
Lynn C anal is the water so coveted by and contended tor by Great Britain
in the treaty arguments of 1825 and 1903. It certainly is the most clean-cut
channel in Southeastern Alaska, and would have made the most ideal port for
Canada.
On the starboard side as we ascended \\ere Mendenhall. Herbert. Eagle.
Mead and other glaciers, hanging from the 7,000-foot peaks along the tops of
which the boundary line zigzags northerly. On the port side hung the spider-like
glacier legs of the Muir Glacier, covering the Fairweather Range in a cap of ice.
Just as we were passing the north end of the gold belt, the captain wanted
to know if I saw a town on the bank. I told him I did not; but he insisted that
there was one. and with the aid of the glasses we observed it to be one house,
and which he said was Seward City.
The Auk Indians, who scared Whidby out of his senses, are almost extinct.
W hen Whidby. at X'ancouver's request, explored the canal he thought the natives
wanted to kidnap him. and he named the point "Seduction," and in his attempt
to get away other Indians followed him, and the next landing he called "Re-
treat" (on Admiralty Island). On the westerly side toward the head of the
canal and up the valley of the Chilkat there were and are more Indians. The
28
trails of the Porcupine gold stampede, the old Dalton trails and Indian and
traders' trails to the interior passed pj by Healey's Store (Haines Mission), and
inland to Wells and Klukwan, and although not nnuch used now, are still very
plainly marked. A railroad has been projected to the interior over this route.
FORT WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Alaskans everywhere try to erect monuments to the honor of Secretary
Seward, who purchased it forty-two years ago. That is reason enough for giving
his name to towns, forts, rivers, mines and so many otheer mailers and places.
Fort Seward is but one of these monuments.
All the attractions in the category of nature, from dense woods to barren
rocks; from ocean level to ice-capped, cloud-covered peaks; from the soft, balmy
breeze off the ocean current to the Arctic blizzard from over the Pass, may be
found here. If this port was in any other part of the world in sixty degrees
north latitlde as it is, it would be frozen over half the year.
Icebergs float near by all the year, but the climate is never very cold, and
in summer real "cow cream " (for the other is the stand-by of the miner) may
be had from the dany, and strawberries, blueberries or raaspberries from the
vine. The ice trust has no monopoly ; when the article is wanted, a berg can be
lassoed near at hand, blue cold, clear and clean, perhaps frozen hfty years ago.
when It commenced its descent from the summit of a mountain and liberated but
a day. I can testify that they cannot be surpassed for ice cream purposes.
I climbed a small mountain near the fort and took a view of the surround-
ing country, — out to the ocean; upon the Fairweather Range; up the Chilkat,
and everywhere the most awe-inspiring sights gladdened my soul. Fort William
H. Seward is one of the most beautiful spots in Alaska.
A Government boat in time of need can convey the soldiers to Skagway,
where they can be taken into the interior by the railroad, or up and down the
coast, wherever they may be needed. The fort could not resist a squad ol quail
hunters, but it looks well kept, and breaks the monotony, which is the only use
we have for such things on this coast.
THE CHILKOOr TRAIL.
As we ascended Lynn Canal to its head we came to a lork. On the left
prong was Healey's Post, or Dyea of old. Near by is Haines, and a whart
ready to fall, and a little below it Fort William H. Seward, a nicely kept bar-
racks with about 1 00 soldiers, and one of the most beautiful spots on the coast.
The tourist should climb some elevation here and look over the Fairweather
Range; the view excels the choicest of Switzerland. On the right fork was
Skagway.
In the early days, when gold fever was most feverish, some disembarked
on the left fork and cooled their fever in crossing through this valley and over
the Chilkoot; others landed on the right fork at the foot of White Horse I rail,
and just as effectively cooled theirs that way.
The Chilkoot Trail was best known, and first used. Schwatka went over
in 1883, naming the pass "Perrier Pass," after a Frenchman of that name. At
the same time he named Lake Lindeman in honor of Dr. Lindeman of Bremen
Geographical Society. He reached the summit in about six days. Although
his is the first official exploration, nevertheless it had been crossed by others, who
had made some report of it before, including Arthur Krause. also Bean in 1878.
This pass was the highway for Indian trade between the coast and interior
Indians from time immemorial.
From the landing on Lynn Canal to Sheep Camp was twelve miles up the
valley of this Dyea Inlet, up which small canoes could be rowed, poled or pulled,
and these were often used to assist in drawing the freight up most of the way.
29
I lie Ir.til < rossfs and rfcrcisscs tlir strt-arii. .iiicJ iii its k y water the gold
fevor found its first rliill as the victim waded, stuml)lcd and scrambled through
ihc swifr rapids and over the round glacial stones which covered river holtom
and valley.
In the near proximity to Sheep Camp was and is a dirty Indian village.
Hut its |)opulation of men, sc|uaws. children and dogs took a prominent part in
the now historical stampede.
Many of these Indians could carry one hundred and lilty pounds to the
summit easier than some of the gold seekers could crawl up without any load.
I he usual load was one hundred pounds; strong Indians more; squaws, children
and dogs accordingly less. They charged from ten to twenty-five cents a pound.
■Ill I.Ki X IT TK.M 1.
Now stories are told about strong Indians taking more than two hundred
pounds to the summit on their backs. In one instance an organ weighing two
hundred and twenty pounds; and in another a barrel of pitch weighing two hun-
dred and forty-five pounds, which is the best record as told to me by a personal
friend, who was an eye-witness.
The last half of the trail to Sheep Camp (so named by pioneer hunters
who killed some sheep there) is in the side of the bluff several hundred feet above
the stream. But the climb does not commence in earnest until we leave Sheep
Camp.
This IS the timber or snow line. A glacier hangs on either side and the
streams from each unite here. On every hand is evidence that these glaciers
once were one and discharged in the canal at Dyea. Some portion of the glacier
has receded several miles above the Camp, and there now groans, roars and dis-
30
charges ice and water near the trail. It is one of the rear guards of the retreating
Malaspina Snow Cap, of which there are many visable on this side of the Fair-
weather Range, including Muir, Davidson and Bertha.
Looking backward from Sheep Camp we behold the glacier-worn, stone-
covered valley of the Dyea River, up which came the tens of thousands of Klon-
dike adventurers in 1897-8. In the mad rush some overloaded, inexperienced
or reckless drowned in this river before reaching this point. Others became so
footsore, homesick, or discouraged that they returned; still others had no provi-
sions, some no money to employ the pack Indians, and after trying a few days
to carry their own supplies (usually a ton) up to the pass in relays, abandoned
the adventure and returned home.
From here, looking upward, it seems that a barrier is built to the clouds;
and so it is. For almost four miles we "scratch gravel," pull each other, look
for shrubs to hold onto, cling to the rocks, and climb, climb, climb until you
would think the perspiration and profanity would melt the snow-covered trail.
Looking back again, we see that we have ascended almost a half mile upward,
and looking toward the summit, only a half mile distant, is an ascent of over
1 ,000 feet more. This is the herculean task, the almost insurmountable bar, the
turning or stopping point for hundreds of tenderfeet. But those with courage
and strength enough remaining crawl with their bellies to the earth like lizzards.
kicking toe holds, delving into the ice and snow for almost a day longer, at last
reach the coveted summit of Chilkoot Pass (Schwatka says the Indians called
the elevation "Kotusk Mountain"). No human being could face some of the
blizzards that come through it.
History will never record the names or numbers of all that gave their lives
in attempting to scale this pass. The river claimed some, hardship and exposure
dozens more, a great snow slide in I 898 sixty-one more, and a misstep ofttimes
hurled the victim to the dizzy depth hundreds of feet below. Two hundred lives
would be placing the number under that actually known.
My friend, who went over the trail early in the spring of '98, says "that
the best investment he ever made was the small sum he paid to an enterprising
owner of a rope, which was so fastened as to enable the climber to use his hands
by pulling himself up on the rope, and that this rope in those days was a living
scrambling string of crazy gold seekers, day and night, and reminded him of
the desperate, senseless salmon trying to swim up a dry creek bed in spawning
time."
Since then pack trains, better trail, Peterson's rope tramway or counter-
weight tramway, lessened the labor and risk, and robbed the dirty Sheep C amp
Indians of their vocation. Eventually traffic shifted to the White Pass I rail,
and later still the White Pass and ^'ukon Railway modernized the travel. And
now the old Chilkoot Trail is but little used, and Sheep Camp. Dyea, Hainos
Mission. Stone House, and other familiar stations are almost abandoned.
The altitude of the pass has been given all the way from 3.500 to 4,300
feet. The former is approximately correct. It was the highest of the passes.
That is about as high as the highest mountains in the eastern part of the
United States. It was nearly all above the timber line, in snow and ice.
It required one month for many a poor miner to cany his provisions to
the top.
After reaching the summit, a small lake named Crater Lake was visible,
only 500 feet below, and its waters flowed away toward the "^ ukon. By a
sharp descent the trail soon reached and passed it, then became an easy grade
for about nine miles to Lake Lindeman, where the waterway to the Klondike
and ^ ukon Basin begins.
31
SKAGUAY.
Skaguay (Skagway Postofficc) is a crcalurc of ihc Klondike rush, during
which time il grow from a tenl lo a cily of tents, with 10.000 population.
In those boom days it ex[)erienced all the dance hail, gamhhng hell, murder
and other vices known lo lh<- '49ers. ( ri|)[)le C reek and every other great mmmg
camp.
The clink of the wine glass, click of roulette wheel, crack of the assassin's
revolver, were lost in the sound of curses from the card table, songs and laughturc
Irom the dance and beer halls, and the din of a wide-open mining camp.
Men forgot their fatigue of carrying burdens through snow to the pa.ss,
iorgot their home, marriage vows and honor, forgot everything, while half-crazed
with vile whisky, they hilariously swung the scantily dressed but well painted
dance hall girls to the call of the cjuadrille. or wagered their last cent.
At the very top of this vice was the prince of gamblers. Jefferson R. .Smith
(Sopy Smith). He had trained in every big city and mining camp in the United
Stales and Mexico; many murders were charged to him, and every other crime
IS well. He had a half-dozen confederates- ex-convicts hut. r-xpmen'-ed like
SKAC.IA ^'
himself; through them he murdered on the trail, and robbed and gambled in
town. He was a good schemer, a good dresser, good shot, good gambler, and
a charitable giver. When it became known that his men were murdeirng and
robbing on the trail, they were called in; when the shell game wore out it was
replaced with roulette; from one thing to another, he robbed all the people. It
is said he was the first man to wire an offer of men to the President for the
Spanish-American War; he patriotically galloped through the streets of Skaguay
July 4. I 898. just four days before he was shot.
Sopy's last game was won when he robbed a poor miner of a bag of gold that
he had just brought over the pass, and refused to return it.
The people selected a viligance committee, and armed themselves for a
fight. As soon as Smith learned of the opposition he attempted to cowe them
and met the guard. Frand Reid, at the land end of the dock, as brave as himself.
After some words. Sopy knocked Reid down with his gun. Reid's gun refused
to discharge, but just at the same instant that Smith shot him in the groin Reid's
gun discharged and he shot Smith through the heart. Smith's followers fled to
the mountains, but were rounded up, and sent out of the country or to prison for
long terms. About two miles up the \X hite Horse Trail is an acre of graves,
)2
inclosing the bodies of men dying on the trail or in this camp in 1897-8. I he
one most conspicuously marked is that of Frank Reid ; another (no\s' unmarked,
the markers having been taken for souvenirs) is that of Smith.
Many of the signs of a mining camp can be now seen about the city, but
it has settled down to a law-abiding village of about a thousand people, with
good schools, and modern conveniences.
The White Pass and Yukon Railroad built by Heney and Hawkins, now
building the Copper River road for Guggenheims, goes over the old Brackett
pack trail, and although one of the most difficult engineering feats in railroading,
and also one of the most expensive, it nevertheless pays for itself every year.
It is said that this railroad burned two thousand dead horses that had died in
the rush over this trail. The number of human lives has never been estimated;
the headboards in the cemetery tell enough.
Every tourist reaching Skaguay should at least go to the summit of White
Pass, 2,500 feet high (Chilkoot Pass is 3,600). On this miniature railroad
the scenery surpasses that of any railroad in the world, except the new road now
building on Copper River, so far as mountain scenery is concerned.
scKNKK^' t>.\ I'm; \\ r
33
SI I KA.
Sect-kali, as it was originally ( .ilird hv llic natives, is the most inlfrestinK,
historic, and beautiful of all the places in Alaska.
Sitka was a thriving town, the seat of Alaskan government, huilding ships,
making plows, picks, spades, etc., for sale in Mexico and California when Chi-
cago was hut an Indian village and the country helween it and the Pacific was
the undisputed lands of the Indians.
Some of the old buildings, now a hundred years old, still stand; the old
trading post store house, a blockhouse, another large building at one-time head-
quarters for the Russian Alaska Fur Company, and now a hotel at which Lady
Franklin stopped while searching for her husband; a half-made burr for grinding
wheat imported from Siberia, and parts of a mill, are among the important
Russian relics. The first location of a fortified trading post by the Russians
( I 799) was on a flat purchased of the Indians about eight miles north of the
present Sitka, and called Archangel Gabriel, which was robbed and burned and
the occupants murdered or taken prisoners by the natives in I 802. I he facts
regarding that massacre as told by an eye-witness equal in barbarism the most
horrible Indian massacres of the East. The unfortunate victims were tortured
to death; not even the cattle escaped. The valuable furs were removed to their
own canoes and the buildings burned. In I 804 Baranoff returned to rebuild it
with I 20 Russians, on the Ekaterina and Alexandra, to which 800 Aleuts in
300 bidarkas were joined, all being assisted by the sloop Neva. The Indians,
with the assistance of seme Russian deserters, were fortified at Indian River, to
which siege was laid, and the location of the present Sitka taken after a stubborn
resistance, and named New Archangel.
The Indians never again secured control, although in 1 878, after the sol-
diers had been removed from Sitka, they demanded the lives of six men in return
for six of their number who were lost at sea while working for a white employer,
and being refused they conspired to retake the town, and after completing all
preparations returned in force by the way of the Hot Springs, about twenty miles
southward, where they killed a man by the name of Brown, and arriving before
Sitka demanded five more. Before this massacre could be carried out, and by
urgent request. Great Britain sent the Osprey from Esquimault, to which friendly
act the Sitka of today owes its existence, and for which, with hundreds of other
neglects, our own government ought to be ashamed.
Nothing remains to be seen at the old site of Sitka, except a hunter s cabin,
and grass as high as a man's head. Nothing remains at the old Redoubt, as
much farther south of Sitka, except mere traces of the old fortifications and ship
ways. Nothing remains of the Indian River fortifications, except a mark to
identify them. The ways of the Sitka shipyard are lost in the sand; the old flour
mill was replaced by a sawmill, which has recently been modernized, although
the same old flume furnishes water for it; the once beautiful cemetery, forested
with Greek crosses, is now overgrown with brush and \\eeds; but one of the circle
of blockhouses remains; Kath-le-an and Anna-Hootz have surrendered, and their
followers are members of the Russian or Protestant Churches; Baranoff Castle
of history, 70x140 feet of logs, the center of gay and official life, as well as
drunken orgies, from 1813 to 1894, when it was burned, has been replaced by
a spacious residence, now occupied by Prof. C. C. Georgeson. head of the Agri-
cultural Department of Alaska.
So the Sitka of old. like its founders, will soon be only seen in pictures.
read in books, or heard in tales of tradition.
A federal barracks, coaling station, cable, wireless, agricultural experi-
mental station, marshal's office, customs house, magnetic station, electric lights.
34
modern residences, churches and schools are indications ol a new era. But the
old and new are so blended as to produce a reverential respect not elsewhere felt
in Alaska.
On one side of the town is the Indian River Park, where a large number
of totems, presented by the natives to Governor Brady, are now preserved.
High above the little "Naples" is a circle of ever snow-crowned peaks;
back on the sidehill a thousand Russian graves, over which Greek crosses hold
their arms; in front is an island-dotted harbor, which Schwatka has said could
only be mapped with a pepper box, and for beauty has no peer in the world;
off toward sea is Mt. Edgcomb, an active volcano until a little over fifty years
ago, of which the natives have many legends. Surely, Sitka is entitled to all
the beautiful names bestowed upon it.
The industrial school for natives started by Brady is now the foremost
native school in Alaska, with a yearly attendance of about 200, its full capacity.
^#-
Bishop Roe, head of the Episcopal Church in Alaska, lives here in a beautilul
home (he is perhaps the best posted man regarding the natives in Alaska). I he
Sheldon Jackson Museum contains a collection worth a hundred times more than
the Government so begrudgingly paid for the expense of collecting it.
On one side of the town is a well kept street, on both sides of which are
modern houses, in which may be found the usual furnishings of a white man s
home. These are schooled natives, and it is known as the "cottagers.
On the other side of the town is the native village, with square, unpaiiitod.
unfurnished (except possibly a stove and table) frame houses in rows parallel
with high tide, all facing the water; this is known as the "Ranchc."
Indian tragedies: tales of love of native or creole by ofTicer. soldier or trap-
per; of murder, suicide and assassination, and of Russian tyranny and native
conspiracies, are now just old enough to invite the imagination of the novelist.
35
I lie 1)11(1 .tiid M-.i lilc IS nion* .!( live llwiii al any oth«'r point found \)y us
m Alaska, and more convenienl lo sludy, for ihe scientist.
I he balmy atmosphere from the sea, the quiet of the village and the beauty
of snowy mountains, green forests and blue waters, dotted with rock-made islands,
ought to be inspiring enough for artist and poet.
I he hot springs lo the southward, now in charge ol Dr. Goddard from
I acoma. and which I found to be 145 degrees F., were known to llic Indians
to cure rheumatism, and to the Russians to cure gout.
So that everything, in profusion, is piled up here waiting for people of art,
culture, leisure and science.
Historians have written much ol Baranoll. and the missionaries. Dr. Shel-
don Jackson, Rev. John G. Brady. Rev. W. W. Kirby, James McNair Wright
and others, have informed us quite fully concerning the natives, and to these I
must refer the reader for want of space.
lo the sportsman, I vouch that deer may be seen and killed within a mile
or two of Sitka: we lound them lame enough for photographing. At the Squash-
inski River, with the assistance of the Sitka Fishing Club, in two hours we
caught with trout rods 153 trout, weighing 247 pounds.
Sitka is so different from all other Alaska towns; every one has time;
every one is sociable, and talent is plentiful ; it is the most ideal place on the
coast for a month's summer recreation.
Mr. deGrofT, who has done so much for Alaska, together with the Indian
discoverer, owns about the only mine of importance in this district ; it is about
thirty miles north on Chicagof Island.
The silver-mounted, gold-haloed picture ol Madonna and costly robes, in
the Russian Church; the museum, school, park, and curio stores, are of first
mlerest to the tourist.
Life in Sitka is idleness in winter; only the small weekly boat calls at the
dock. Only the precipitation, in the form of a misty rain, must keep busy, as
it has a perpetual contract to deliver eight feet of water per annum.
Down at the "Ranche " may be found venison, salmon, seal, Indians, and
dogs, all smoked by the same fire.
A deer may be purchased on the street for two or three dollars, and fish
for a few cents. I caught crabs enough for a party of seventeen in sight of Sitka
as fast as I could lift them into the boat.
Without moving from my tracks, I noted two kinds of Huckleberries ; blue
and red Raspberries, Salmon berries. Crab apples, Alder, Elder. Hemlock,
Alaska Spruce, Timothy, Red-top, Gooseberries, a wild Black Currant, and
other plants strange to me. Back of the town is a tract of spongy, water-soaked
tundra (which increases as we go northward), from which I plucked twelve
varieties of moss. On the rocks of Japonski in the harbor I gathered nineteen
kinds of sea moss, and numerous species of shellfish.
Five thousand big. black, noisy ravens constitute the board ol health and
garbage collectors of the town, and they do the work thoroughly.
I lived a week among them, and learned eleven difFereiu calls. I saw
them turn complete summersaults in the air, fly with their bellies upward, walk
into the kitchen doors for garbage, play with the dogs, and do wiser stunts than
I have ever seen other birds do. I am not surprised that the Indians selected
it as an ancestor, and crown their totems with it. Eagles are also very numerous
and wise, but silent and sullen.
The natives of Sitka, consisting of two tribes, are said to come from near
Nome, which may be the reason for the lack of totems in their village, and their
36
inability to understand other native tongues. 1 heir boats, shacks, customs and
features are quite similar to the other tribes along the coast, and they possess a
strong Mongolian likeness. The Russian church claims a native and creolc
membership of 700. I believe the natives alone of Sitka equal that number.
As a whole, they are more civilized than any other village in Alaska south of
Cooks Inlet.
As we sailed northward to Icy Straits we came to a considerable native
town, Hoonah, where the baskets are good, and cheaper. We soon entered
Cross Sound, where the first white man, Mr. Chirkoff, discovered Alaska (July
17, 1741). He sent his first mate with ten men ashore for water. They did
not return. The next day he sent the second mate and ten more men ashore for
fresh water, and they never returned. The next day the Indians appeared hos-
tile, and he went to sea. The conduct of the natives near by shown to \\ hidby
a few years later would make it appear that the Indians fearlessly murdered the
sailors.
CROSS SOUND.
In going from Cross Sound westward to Valdez and intervening points, it
was apparent that a radical change had occurred. For hundreds of miles hardly
an Indian or miner or cannery or river or bay may be seen; there are no places
for them. Nothing but an ice-capped plateau on the right, and a boundless
ocean on the left. Although the geographers have named it Gulf of Alaska, its
entrance is 500 miles wide and it is nothing but pure, unalloyed ocean.
The Elias Range caps the ice field; its lofty peaks — Mt. Crillion, rj,90n
feet; Mt. Fairweather, 15,293 feet; Mt. Vancouver, 15.666 feet; Mt. Cook.
15,758 feet; Mt. St. Elias, 18,024 feet, and Mt. Logan, 19,500 feel— are
jewels in the crown of this crescent ot ice 250 miles long.
I climbed a small mountain sufficiently high to get a full view of the range,
and there before me stretched glacier enough to bury Switzerland; and from this
giant field of ice issued such branches as Muir Glacier, three oi lour mi'es long
and as many hundred feet above the sea; Malaspina, 70 miles long and almost
2,000 feet high at the water; and others smaller but yet so large as to make
Switzerland's largest unworthy a name.
Yes, this is a different country; it is such an abrupt change from the count-
less bays, islands and timber-covered slopes, to this ice-covered range, fearlessly
and precipitiously descending into an islandless ocean. This range of mountains
is all different from the coast range. The inhospitable shore is a danger to e\eiv
storm-caught craft near it. It for all time has been a barrier to the race south.
They were not able to protect the coast here, and hence came the Athabascans
from the interior of America through the valleys leading to Cooks Inlet.
If the St. Elias Range is the end of the Coast Mountains, then Ml. Mi
Kinley is the end of the Rockies — 20,460 feet hight is the summit, the highest
point, the very climax of mountaindom on this North American Continent. In
the same country is the vent pipe for this climax. Mt. Wrangell, an active vol-
cano; the wierdest reports oi its activity can be heard every year now. Last
summer Mt. St. Augustine and Mt. Iliamma were active, and the natives had
numerous tears and traditionary tales concerning them.
Ml. ST. LLIAS.
In July, 1741. wlieii Behring discovered Alaska, one ol the Inst .uid most
attractive features noticed by him from the sea near Valdez, was what appeared
to him, and to every one else lor a hundred and fifty years after, the highest
peak in North America. He gave it the beautiful name of St. Llias be-
(ausc he clis( Dvcicd il on S.iinl I li.is clay. Any onr who sees it will ( orm-cif
thai it is moic .i|>|)ii)|)i i.ilciv n.uii'-d lli.in most Alaska points,
I he liuliaiis look upon it with as much awe as wr rjo. aiifl tell Iraclitionary
talcs ol its ciuplions, supciluiman |)owcrs, etc.
I l)(li<\c ilic New ^ ork I imes Expedition, including Schwatka and Seaton-
K.arr. made the lirst attempt to climh it. in 1886. They described the large
River \ ahtse, which flows for miles under the ice. Schwatka rlimhed the high-
est, ascending 7.200 feet ; a higher ascent was impossible.
In 1 888 the I opham expedition from England tried it. Up lo this time
it was thought a large crater appeared on the side, and it does now look so from
the bottom; but on arriving at that point I opham found it was a separate peak,
and no crater at all. I hose attempting its ascent have concluded that it was
not a volcanic mountain, although I cbenkoff. a Russian, reported it as smoking,
in 1839, and its eruption, in 1847; and other reports have been made of vol-
canic action. Topham named this point Haydens Peak. He reached I I ,460
feet altitude.
In June, 1 890. the National Geographical Society and the Geological
Survey united in their effort to ascend. Prof. I. C. Russell, glacier expert,
headed the expedition. He landed on \ akutat Bay, made a long journey
across the Malaspina Glacier, named Mt. Logan in Augusta Range, and Owen
and Irving in Cook Range, but failed to scale St. Elias. His reports and in-
formation were so valuable that he was returned the next year, I 89 I , ancf made
another attempt to ascend the peak, reaching an elevation of 14,500 feet, and
fixed the height of the peak at 18,100 feet. On his return he made a detailed
exploration of Disenchantment Bay.
Shortly after, the Italian, Duke ol Abruzzi (recently prominent in the
newspapers of the world as fiance of Catherine Elkins), with the courase and
system of the general that he is, the assistance of young men like himself, and
an early start, succeeded in reaching the apex, and from it beheld one ol the
greatest penoramic views ever coming to the eyes of an earthly being. He stood
with his whole party on the pinnacle ; before them stretched the Malaspina Gla-
cier 80 miles long, and dozens of others, smaller, of course, but still large enough
to cover Switzerland, with its world-famous glaciers. Mt. Parouse, Mt. Crillion,
Mt. Fairweather and other mighty peaks lay below his feet; whole ranges,
patches of forests, rivers like silver threads, and fields of clouds here and there;
on the east Canada, north ^ ukon Basin, west Copper River and Cooks Inlet
country, and south the Pacific Ocean. No man can behold such a wonderful
sight and not be a bigger, better and nobler being; is it worth ttie risk, expense,
and suffering? Ask God; man is too small to answer it.
At night time and on very cold days black snow worms would appear in
the snows that cover the glaciers. Sand stone and lime stone and sea shells of
known species of this age are found on the summits of the peaks of this range,
indicating that the mountains are not of great age. Ingre Vittorio Novarese.
Royal Geologist of Rome, who examined the collection of rocks gathered by the
Duke, differs from Prof. Israel C. Russell on some of the intricate questions of
age. priority of upheaval and the like, but I believe it will be conceded by all
that an intrusnc diorite occupies the heart of the primary upheaval, similar to the
Coast Range.
For the student or alpinist, much ol interest has been written about the
Fairweather and St. Elias Ranges and the glacier cap by the members of the
expeditions above referred to. particularly Russell. Topham. Seaton-Karr.
Abruzzi. and by Dr. Cook and the Harriman Expedition subsequently.
38
GLACIERS.
From Cross Sound to Cook's Inlet is the home ol the largest glaciers in
the world, outside of the polar regions. The warm air of the Japanese Current,
loaded with all the water it can carry, meets the cold air of the summits of the
highest mountain range in North America, and precipitates its burden on the
coast side of the mountains.
Glaciers are caused by the accumulating of more snow in winter than can
melt in summer, and glaciers of various sizes are found on all the higher peaks
in the United States.
Glaciers like those of Greenland once almost covered our whole country.
Their indelible marks are as enduring as time, and rocks as large as a farm
were picked up in or near .Alaska and deposited in the United States. They
gouged, chiseled and ground the softer rocks and earth from the highlands, leav-
ing only mountain peaks of granite for summits, and leveled and rounded the
plains and valleys convenient for the advent of vegitation, animals and men.
changing the contour and topography of the country from Cape Barrow to the
Ohio River.
The rainfall and snow I all in Alaska behind the Elias Range and on the
Arctic is not great, therefore but few small glaciers are found. This ice cap is
the remnant perhaps of the parent that covered the country, and made much of
the placer gold. It is rapidly receding at many places. One author made a
careful estimate of Muir Glacier, stating that at the water it was 225 feet above,
450 below, and during his stay of 30 days emptied 149,000.000 cubic feet
per day of bergs. This glacier now has receded to insignificance, compared with
its former flow. There are numerous others, ancient children of the eternal snows
of the summits of this range, leveling everything in their way to the ocean, in
which, with a roar like the artillery of a great siege, they deposit morain, trees
and debris, upon which some day rnay rest cities.
Constantly as the clock, these rivers of ice, covered with spires, spirettes,
steeples, domes, minarets, pinnacles and needle points of ice, criss-crossed with
gorges, fissures, crevasses and cracks; honeycombed with rivers and rushing
torrents, and streaked with long lines of morain, plow their way to the ocean.
Some of the glaciers are "dead," that is, they do not now reach the sea; others,
in pearllike chunks, as at Hubbel, or shaded in blue from a light summer sky to
a dark indigo, as at Taku, drop into it. Woe be to the person on the shore
or near it in such place as Yakutat Bay when a berg the size of a twenty-story
office building drops in. The reverberating roar and the grinding of bergs on
such occasion is beyond my ability to describe.
YAKUTAT.
Cros Sound is the northerly end of the "inside passage. ' On the southward
IS the picturesque timber-covered island -i ringed coast — home of the Siwash.
To the northward is five hundred miles of islandless ocean, beating at the |)recipi
tous foot of a Greenlandish glaciated plateau, indented by Liluva. Dry. lev
and Yakutat Bays.
Lituya IS as tide-washed, surt -beaten and dangerous now as i( \\.i> wlnii
La Perouse visited it in I 786. who had the misfortune of losing some ol his men.
to whom he erected a monument on Monument Island. Near by some jilacer
prospects give promise of a good return, but to gel to them with provisions and get
in and out of the bay safely is a greater chance than even the most daring miner
cares to take. The few Indians that live there have not improved since La
Perouse described them. Dixon, who stopepd there in I 787, verified the reports
of his French predecessor, and one of the miners working there iiow lurnished to
i9
me a full report nl native life to date, which is littlo if any hotter and too shocking
for |)ul)lication. Dry Bay. seventy-five miles north of Lituya. and Icy Bay.
the same distance northwest of Yakutat, hardly deserve space here.
^'akutat Bay has been a trading post for while traders durinK the last
hundred years, and for savaRcs indefinitely longer. It is the home of the hair
seal, for which natives of the north, south, coast and interior come. Athabascan.
I hlinkil. Aleut and l.squimaux considered it the terminus of their sojourn from
Jinnic.
I he result ol this cominglinR of natives is perhaps the cause of the differ-
ence between the Yakutat Indian and other natives — they are a combination of
all others. \ hey show some of the copper color of the interior Athabascan.
Some of the round face, yellow complexion and oblique eyes of the Monoglian-
Siwash and Aleut-Labrets. and customs of the Esquimaux and the vices of them
all. I hey now build, and for as far back as we have record, built, large single-
room houses, as do the Siwash. and lived in them in a sort of communistic Esqui-
maux manenr. 1 heir basket weaving is a link between the coarser work of the
Siwash and finer work of the Aleut. Their religion, if they ever had any, is
a mongrel like themselves. They do not have totems and badges and long cere-
monies, nor hold certain animals too sacred for food, as the Siwash do.
About all the first navigators and traders called at Yakutat. and each
applied a new name. Before them the natives in different parts of Alaska
applied names of their own selection, but the name surviving is the most suitable,
as it is the bay of the Yakutat Indian. Monti Bay. Admiralty Bay or Bering
Bay would fail to convey the local color that is included in the word ^ akutat.
One of the Russian convict colonies was planted here on the site of Mul-
grave in I 796, the remains of which, like the villages of the Indians who
destroyed it in 1805, lie rotting and obliterated.
The village of Y akutat near the old settlement has been and is of some
commercial importance. Mr. Mills' store, the Simpson mill, cannery, store and
railroad, and the ocacsional call of a boat disturb the caressing spirit of Mor-
pheus. A trip up the litle railroad, which is the only fish rialroad in the world,
to the cannery and to the site of the Indian and Russian settlements will satisfy
the tourist ordinarily. But the nature lover will marvel at the glaciers and gla-
ciers, the bobbing heads of the hair seal, the roar and grinding of the bergs
coming down from Disenchantment Bay ; the tents and bark huts of the Indians,
where the women render seal fat. scrape skins, etc.. while the men kill a supply
of seal for the coming season. The seal furnishes oil for fuel, light and cooking.
In fact, it answers all the purposes of lard, butter, coal oil and molasses. The
mission-taught Indian lad on graduation day would prefer the rancid seal oil
to maple molasses on his pancakes, or anything else for that matter. It is rubbed
in, warmed in, smoked in and fed in to the Indian from birth to death. Its use
to the native is greater than all other animals or fish, not excepting the salmon.
Malaspina, an Italian seeking the Northwest Passage in I 792 for Spain,
thought he had found it when he entered ^ akutat Bay, the upper end of which
he named Disenchantment Bay. One ot the arms of the latter is named Russell
Fiord, in honor of Israel C. Russell, a glacier expert who exammed it very
closely on return from his attempt to ascend Mount St. Elias in 1891. In
Malaspina's time the glacier must have been lower and in one mass, while in
Russell's time it was in three divisions, named Dalton, Hubbard and Nunatak,
and still IS retreating as all glaciers on the Pacific are doing. Here are polar ice
caps in sight from a coast with a moderate climate; Alps that would make
Switzerland lok like a toyland, within easy reach of everyone, and a hunter's
paradise at a moderate cost. Why go abroad when you can explore country
and ascend peaks never tread upon by man?
40
KATALLA.
Well do I remember the starting of Katalla in 1904, and "wildcatting"
the Bering oil field — the leasmg and assignmg — the rows of sample bottles, the
knowing arguments, the maps and hopes which came before me for my services
as a lawyer long before I had any idea of an investigation for book purposes.
I was a native of the East, where coal, oil and gas was so common that
the prevailing idea "that oil came from the coal deposits and gas from the oil'
was born or soaked into me. And although colege theories had almost eradicated
it, it came back stronger than ever when I saw the seeping oil, and found that
it tasted, smelled and burned the same as at home, and was in the immediate
vicinity of a hard coal field, quite the same. But an oil field, or a coal mine, or
Indian village, or most anything, is a sort of relief from the leagues and leagues
of snow-covered mountains between Sitka and Katalla.
The known Alaskan petroleum-bearing areas are confined to the Pacific
Coast regions. One is at Comptroller Bay, with an eastern extension at ^'aktag;
the other lies along the margin of Alaska Peninsula. At both there are strong
seepages. At the former two wells have been drilled at Katalla and produce
some oil, and other tests have been made, but the production thus far can hardly
have a commercial importance, although I believe it will have in time.
The old village of Kayak is near by. The name, as well as the architec-
ture of the Indian houses, and little grave houses on posts, and the customs ot
the natives will easily convince the visitor on sight that they are not Siwas^.
There is a feeling that more than the usual amount of Aleut, and Russian blood,
customs and religion are mixed in them than in any others to the southward.
Cape Suckling was one of the best known of the early landmarks on this
coast. These great glaciers have washed, shoved and hauled millions of tons
of dirt and rock to the sea, and in many places for two to six miles from shore
will be apparent beds of this deposit, and at almost every shore point where one
attempts to land he will have as much trouble with the mud and silt as he will
with the surf or rapidly moving tides.
Kayak is on one of the islands at the entrance of Controller Bay and sup-
posed point of Behring's first approach to the shores of Alaska, July I 8th, 1 74 I ,
and of which Cook took possession for England in 1 778.
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND.
While nature has with lavish hand piled valuable coal on her very sea
coast and near great copper mines, she has been stingy with her harbor-making
shovel. Comptroller Bay is open to the ills of the sea, and what Katalla did to
Kayak, Cordova repealed to Katalla, all because of no harbor protection. At
least four railroad companies are now working on roadbeds or field surveys in
this oil and coal field, with an apparent intention to haul the coal a little farther
to a safe harbor. Even now it is a guess to select the spot destined to be the
sea terminus for the oil and anthracite coal, for both of which the consumer,
from Mexico to Nome, is eagerly waiting. Natives and native villages. Russians
and Russian villages, promoters and promoters' villages, have in turn thrived
and fallen within the Prince William Sound country. After a long and uselul
life to Alaska as a missionary and governor. Rev. John G. Brady may trace
his downfall, and Promoter Reynolds his insanity, to the luring prospects of
these shores. On the other hand, the profits of every considerable trading com-
pany are greatly augmented; the income of the big mills and canneries are
fabulously large, and prospects to them are copper lined and coal laden.
Mountains of copper and gold, placer and quartz, behind the range will
perhaps soon be the largest producers in the Territory. Fo handle them, the
41
GuKKcnheims and Morgans liavr omi)loyecl ihc millions ol New York C ity and
lh«' hrains of such men as I iaukms and I Icncy, to whom no passes are too high
or rivers deej) to cross.
Ihc Alaska Home |-(ailway. promoted hy llenry D. Reynolds, attracted
the press of the country hecause of advertising; the purse of the Bostomans
because it was vouched for by such men as Lx-Governor Brady; the people of
Seattle and 1 acoma because Reynolds threatened to withdraw his boats from
Seattle and land them at lacoma, as Seattle refused and Tacoma endorsed his
promotion scheme; and the whole country because of the Keystone Canyon fight
between the forces of the competing railroads in the mountains above Valde/
(a similar liattle between the Guggenheims and the Bruner Company had taken
place a few months prior), which was the bursting point of his development and
of many of his stock jjurchasers. The next chapter was the disgrace of Brady
(those knowing him best believe him innocenl of fraudulent intentions), the
stampede of laborers clamoring for their hard-earned pay, the long legal fight,
the reorganization now going into effect, and the insanity of Reynolds, which
many Alaskans believe to be a penitentiary dodge.
The town of Valde? endorsed the scheme; women's guilds, school children
and everyone subscribed for stock ; hotels, papers and a bank were purchased.
VALDKZ
The town voted a franchise on every street to Reynolds, and pledged the life
of the town to his support. Some day the largest city in Alaska will be on this
sound. Valdez may have lost that chance by playing its highest card with
Reynolds, and it may yet win with the reorganization. Nowhere in the world
are events of importance crowding each other more than here today. It will be
an interesting rivalry to watch — this fight for supremacy and the commerce of
Prince William Sound. It may be Guggenheim's Copper River and North-
western terminating at Cordova; it may be the Alaska Central at Seward; the
Alaska Home at Valdez, or some other yet unknown railroad and port that
will be the metropolis of Alaska.
The government tests prove the petroleum and hard coal of Comptroller
Bay and hard coal ol Matenuska to be equal to the best grades of Pennsylvania.
The Bonanza, Nicola, Jumbo and other copper mines near X'aldez Creek pur-
chased by the Guggenheims are but mountains of copper, worth untold millions.
and yet but a drop in the bucket compared with the richness of the country
drained by the Chittistone, Nizina. Chitina. Kuskulana, Kotsina and other
streams flowing into Copper River, including seventy-five miles square copper
stained throughout. The year 1908 was a prosperous one on these rivers for
42
gold hunters, among the most successful are the well-known Dan Kane, for whom
Dan Creek is named, and Pete Monohan, the discoverer of gold on Valdez
Creek, now working rich placers near the Bonanza Mines. The only free silver
nuggets that I have seen from Alaska came from this country. Copper boulders
weighing a hundred pounds roll down the creeks or are washed out of the gold
placers, some of which have been piled up, awaiting the approaching railroad.
No description of mine can overstate the value of the mineral of this country.
VALDEZ.
A little to the northward are the Susitna and Kuskoquim basins, also richly
mineralized, and destined to be a farming country equal to or better than the
Dakotas. In the great bend of the Yukon, traversed by the basins of the
Xanana, Kuskoquim, Susitna and Copper Rivers, is a country somewhat like the
plains of the Middle West, and in which a couple states like Iowa could and
will be carved. More wheat can now be grown there per acre of the hard
variety than can be produced per acre in Minnesota; likewise more bushels of
potatoes or tons of hay. When the railroads reach the Tanana and ^ ukon
valleys this agricultural district, the coal and oil of Comptroller Bay, and the
anthracite beds of Matenuska, one of the busiest ports in the United States will
be somewhere near Valdez. Valdez is not an antiquated Russian relic or rotting
native village. It is one of the towns born in the gold excitement of 1 898.
Judge Reed ordered a census a year ago because of an issue between the wets
and drys, which showed a population of I 1 64. The Valdez-Fairbanks trail,
early opened by Abercombie, who did more than any one man to discover the
wilds of this country since the days of Vancouver and Malaspina, keeps business
alive every day in winter as well as summer. Good schools, cable, wire, wireless,
stages, newspapers, canneries, mills, copper mines, coal mines, gold mines, oil
wells, railroads, cross-country trails and frequent boats, winter and summer,
make Valdez a modern, busy little town.
SEWARD.
All I have said applies to Seward, as well as to V^aldez; and in ad-
dition it may be said that few harbors in the world are better than that
of Seward, and that the Alaska Central is more favored by nature than
any of the other roads headed for the Yukon. It would be most fitting
if Seward, named in honor of the purchaser of Alaska, should become
the largest city in Alaska, and its prospects are as good as the best now. The
Alaska Central will tap one of the largest beds of anthracite coal, for which
it will have a down haul and perfect harbor. At the same lime it is in easy reach
of the Kenai Peninsula, laden with minerals awaiting development, and the
upper Cook's Inlet country, as well as the Copper River country now being staked
by other railroads.
RAILROADS.
The litigation of the Alaska Central was finished two months ago. and
peace reigns once more among the stockholders, and the road will proceed rapidly,
as about twenty-five miles of grade is already complete and timbers on hand.
Both the Alaska Central and the Copper River and Northwoslern have pro-
gressed beyond the fifty-mile post w ith rails, and this year will add much. T he
Guggenheims have terminal station, shops, etc.. erected; the road from Cordova
to Abercombie Rapids, fifty-four miles, is complete and known as the Copper
River Railroad as far as the Tusnuna River, above which it is known as the
Copper River and Northwestern. Only a few miles of the latter has been built,
but it will this year be completed to Bremner Flats, and such boat and train
service connected as will enable not only the company but the country to develop
43
rapidly. I liey will have five Rood boats on the Copper River and a small l)oat
will operate as far up as Gulkina. I liis service will enable the miners to get
into Copper Center. Gulkina. or even Valdez Creek without much hardship —
advantage of which I expect to take for myself. From these points and others
trails lead across the country and along every river and creek in every direction.
The road work of the government is commendable, but madccjuate for the busi-
ness IrafTic, which is no fault of Major F^ichardson in charge of it.
I he population of Prince William Sound and ( ook's Inlet includes some
•nl all the native races — hunter trapper, trader, canneryman. prospector, promoter
and miner. I he Indian villages are numerous but small. I he Greek Church
of Russia and Russian Creoles may be found in almost every village.
There are numerous islands of importance in the Sound. Hinchingbroke.
on which Baranoff located Port Etches, where he built his ships for the Sitka
Expedition (the native name for the island and village is Nutchek). was a Rus-
sian trading post for many years, and is a fishing station now. Later Orca
became the most important village and largest fishery. Now the Ellamar mines
and village by the same name is a busy place of 500. and the mines on La I ouche
and Knight Islands are almost as industriously engaged digging out blocks of
copper for the smelter at Tacoma or elsewhere.
The Ellamar miens are under the sea at high tide and within sixty feet of
the surface. I am informed that they will place a coffer-dam before proceeding
to remove more metal. This will enable them to work the level between high
and low tides, at that point about twenty-five feet. The tides in some of the
arms of the sea in this vicinity approach thirty feet and are very high at all
points for several hundred miles up and down the coast. There is an Indian
village at Tatitlike. but like elsewhere it is in the same state of decay that the
race is. I believe there are five thousand residents in the vicinity of Prince
William Sound, a thousand in the valleys of the Copper River and tributaries,
two thousand at Seward and Susitna River and tributaries, a thousand on Kanai
Peninsula, besides another thousand on the shores of Cook's Inlet. This estimate
includes a mixture of natives and Russian Creoles not exceeding a fourth of
the whole number. 1 he development of the coal and oil at Comptroller Bay
(or Bering River) and at Matanuska and of the mineral in the basins of the
Copper and Susitna Rivers will double this population every year or two.
While the ports of Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, those in Norway and
Eastern Canada in the same latitude, or even a thousand miles farther south in
places, are frozen, these ports are mild and open. In fact, no oter ports in the
world so far north are open and free of ice in the winter season. Neither does
any other country in the world in the same latitude (or five hundred miles
farther south, for that matter) have such mild climate. The influence of the
Japanese Current are wafted inland up the Susitna and Copper and over the
plains of the Kuskoquim. which with the long hours of daylight and warm sum-
mer sun will make this a better farming country than other lands much farther
south.
COOK'S INLET.
Hope. Homer, Sunrise, Kenai. Knik. Tynook. Seldovia. Kusiloff and other
villages, canenry stations, trading stores and mining camps on Cook's Inlet; Coal
Bay. Turnagain Arm. Knik Arm and othr branches ol the Inlet; the hanging
glaciers and beautiful glacial streams; the gold discoveries of Kenai Peninsula;
the old Russian coal mines and deserted villages of a hundred years ago; the
new coal mines of recent years; the millions of birds and fish that come to these
waters in season, make this one of the most wonderful spots in Alaska, of which
so much can be written, that we are obliged to pass it by in this short work.
In a few years it will be as well known as some of the western states, and more
resourceful than many of the eastern.
44
Here came nearly all the early navigators searching for the Northwest'
Passage, Sir John Franklin or fur; their successors establishing salmon canneries,
and they, in turn, followed by promoters of oil, coal, copper and gold schemes.
The birch and poplar of the East meets the spruce from the West. The
forest of the South gives way to the tundra and treeless slopes of the North.
Siwash to the southward, Athabascan eastward, Esquimaux northward, and to
the West Aleut.
This is the limit of the northerly coasting. From here we produce south
of westerly toward Japan to the end of the Aleutian Islands, which almost
reach the Asiatic coast — it is another kind of country.
Here come the Coast mountains and the Rockies. At the head waters of
the Copper and Susitna, and Tanana, and Kuskoquim they unite in a climax,
the apex of a continent, then go off westward together until, step by step, they
sink deeper and deeper into the sea. disappearing almost within sight of the
shore of Japan.
Here the boats from Seattle turn back. And as we trust ourselves to the
old reliable "Dora" we seem like saying farewell to human kind and plunging
into silence and the unknowable. But before we enter into that journey we must
finish a few subjects belonging to the first division of this book.
INDIANS BETWEEN DIXON ENTRANCE AND COOK'S INLET.
While we are inlhe midsl ol the coast, or Siwash, Indians, we will reler to
them m a general way, to which we are limited m this short work.
Very little that is reliable can be learned of their past from then own state-
ments; their homes, implements, etc., are not enduring. 1 he Russians looked
only for fur. likewise the Hudson Bay Company. The white man left them to
the last for research. The exhaustive research commenced a few years ago
by the Jessup Expedition among the Kwakiutis should be extended along the
entire Pacific and Arctic coasts.
Evidences, dimmed by the erosion of years, on the rock; charred and
mummified remains in antiquated caves and vaults; implements of ivory, stone,
copper, iron, bone, resisting decay or turned up by tailing trees hundreds of
years old, and shells, bone and debris from the camplire many feet beneath the
mould, abundantly prove the habitation of a primitive race here.
Anthropologists and archaeologists have usually said that prehistoric man
kept away from the coasts. That may be somewhat true. I would rather
believe, however, that the present coast lines were many fathoms under the sea
when the roofs of the continents were first inhabited by man. Nevertheless it has
been unquestionably proven that people lived here during an extremely early
period.
lo use the comomn terms, the natives of Alaska have been usually divided
in four distinct families, the Esquimaux, Aleut, Athabascan and Siwash; but
when they are classed accordin to their blood they will be divided in two classes:
First — The Athabascan is the typical native red man, or Indian, of America
and inhabits the interior of Alaska, but breaks across the mountains, coming to
the coast at Cook's Inlet and vicinity, where his blood and language shows in
the Yakutats.
Second — Ihe Coast Indian, from the ColumlMa Riser northward, is one
of a distinct race. His flat nose, squinty, oblique eyes, high cheek bones, short
bow^ legs and broad chest plainly disclose the Mongolian and l.squimaux blood
(of which I will speak later). The Coast Indian, with his soft, yellow com-
plexion, is not a red man or North American Indian at all, and is no farther
removed from the Aleut than the latter is from the Esquimaux. I he Esquimaux.
45
Aleut and Sivvash should be classed as different families of the same parent stock,
springing up originally in Asia, or mingling with people of Japanese or C hinese
ancestry in America.
( ourageous chieftains for centuries no doubt led their clans or "kvvans
in chase, in war and in peace, but until the advent ol the "paleface" no history
recorded their deeds of valor or just government, except as were carved on
totems or painted on rocks or handed down "by word of mouth."
I' rom the days of Baranoff and Vancouver many daring Siwash, I ecumseh-
likf. att.ukcd the explorers, settlers, forts, traders and missionaries, resisting the
encroachments and religion single handed or with such forces as he could
assemble. These have become well known, including the following chiefs in
particular: Seattle, the friend of the whites on Puget Sound; Annahootz and
Katlean. whose tribes burned Sitka and murdered the Russians; Legaic, who
resisted the efforts of Duncan among the Indians south of Dixon's Entrance;
Skowl. on Prince of Wales Island, whose people were the last to fight Chris-
tianity; Shaaks, the renowned chief of Wrangell, and Kohkluk, of the Chil-
kahts.
For twenty-five or more years there have been no wars to fight. 1 he old
chiefs have died. The missionaries. Bible and God have overcome the most
barbaric of the customs, and the government of the whites has taken the place
of the chief, so that the occasion for a great man has not arisen, and never will
in the old way. We have some half-bloods on the coast abundantly able to
practice law anywhere, or fill the executive chair of a state. But the end of the
race is inevitable.
The Indians on this coast are included in the general term "Siwash." On
Vancouver Island and near it live the Kwakiutl tribes. In passing I quote from
"Ethnology of the Coast Indian Tribes of Alaska," by Ensign A. P. Niblack,
U. S. N.:
"The strip of Coast territory extending from Puget Sound to Cape Saint
Elias, and bordered on the east by the Cascade range of mountains, known in
general as the Northwest Coast, is a continuous archipelago about 1 .000 miles
long and 1 50 miles broad. I hrough its narrow channels winds the steamer
route to Sitka, and dotted along its shores are the picturesque winter villages
of the Coast Indian tribes, an ethnic group, corresponding to one of Bastian's
geographical areas, materially differing not only from the hunting Indians of
the interior, but in themselves presenting some of the most interesting problems
in anthropology. The northern Indians of this region, comprising the Tlingit.
Haida and Tsimshian. may be called the wood-carving group; and the southern
Indians, the Kwakiutl. Wakashan and Coast Salish. the cedar-bark group, such
designations being based on the peculiarities of each in the use of wood and
cedar bark, respectively, for industrial, ceremonial and other purposes.
"There have been three semi-official estimates of the Tlingit tribes of
Alaska. The earliest is that in the archives ol the Hudson Bay Company under
Sir James Douglas (1839), made by Mr. John Work, a factor of the com-
pany. The total as given, including the Kaigani tribes of the Haidan stock, and
adding on the Sitka and Hoonyah. which were omitted, is 8.973. In 1861
Lieutenant Wehrman. of the Russian Navy, in the emploj' of the Russian-Ameri-
can Company, compiled a census of Tlingit and Kaigani, giving the total popu-
lation ol free and slaves as 8,597. The third estimate appears in the Census
Report of 1880. and places the Tlingit and Kaigani population at 7.223. That
the enumeration is faulty goes without saying, when no real attempt was made
to actually count them. What is needed is a census taken in the winter when
the Indians are gathered in the villages, and it should include the enumeration
of the different sub-totems and totems composing the great phratnes of these
tribes. This should be supplemented by an accurate plotting of the Indian
46
hunting and fishing grounds which have been held in the different famihes and
handed down for generations. A collection of the various myths and traditions,
with ail the local variations, and a study of the significance of the carved wooden
columns in the villages is also needed to throw light upon their intricate totemic
system. The semi-religious sects and the elaborate ceremonials and dances
would in themselves constitute a special branch of study. In the United States
National Museum is a magnificent collection of ethnological material from this
region. What is needed is a systematic governmental supervision of the collec-
tion of anthropological data, and a comparison of results with those obtained
in the southern portion of this region."
Franz Boas has written about 400 pages for the Smithsonian Institute
concerning the Indians in this vicinity, to which any reader may refer for an
exhaustive account. The extensive research was made possible by the liberal
contribution of Morris K. Jessup, the philanthropist, and the thorough knowledge
of Mr. George Hunt, of Fort Rupert.
I quote the following from Dr. Boas, which will apply quite well to the
coast as far as Cooks Inlet:
"TtlF INDIAN TRIBES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC CO.AST.
" I he Pacific Coast of America between Juan de Fuca Strait and ^ akutat
Bay is inhabited by a great many Indian tribes distinct in physical characteristics
and distinct in languages, but one in culture. Their arts and industries, their
customs and beliefs, differ so much from those of all other Indians that they
form one of the best defined cultural groups of our continent.
"Extending our view a little beyond the territory defined above, the passes
along which the streams of culture flowed most easily were the Columbia River
in the south and the pass leading along Salmon and Bella Coola rivers to Dean
Inlet and Bentinck Arm. Of less importance are Chilcat Pass, Stikine River,
Nass and Skeena rivers and Fraser River. Thus it will be seen that there are
only two important and four less important passes, over which the people of
the coast came into contact with those of the interior. 1 hey have occupied
a rather isolated positon and have been able to develop a peculiar culture without
suffering important invasions from other parts of America.
"As the precipitation all along the coast is very great, its lower parts are
covered with dense forests which furnish wood for building houses, canoes, imple-
ments and utensils. Among them the red cedar {TIniVa giganlea) is the most
prominent, as it furnishes the natives with material for most manufactures. Its
wood serves for building and carving; its bark is used for making clothing and
ropes. The yellow cedar, pine, fir, hemlock, spruce, yew tree, maple, alder, are
also of importance to the Indians. T he woods abound with numerous kinds
of berries, which are eagerly sought for. The kelp and seaweeds which grow
abundantly all along the shore are also utilized.
"In the woods the deer, the elk, the black and grizzly bear, tiio woll and
many other animals are found. The mountain goat lives on the higher ranges
of the mainland. The beaver, the otter, marten, mink and fur seal furnish
valuable skins, which were formerly used for blankets. I he Indians keep in their
villages dogs which assist the hunters.
"The staple fod of the Indians is, however, furnished by the .sea. Seals,
lions and \vhales are found in considerable numbers: but the people depend
almost entirely upon various species of salmon, the halibut and the oulai lion or
candlefish (7 haleichthys pacificus, Girard), which are caught in enormous quan-
tities. Various specimens of cod and other .sea fish also furnish food. Herrings
visit the coast early in the spring. In short, there is such an abundance of animal
life in the sea that the Indians live almost solely uj')on it. Besides lish, they gather
various kinds oi shellfish, sea urchins and cuttlefish.
47
" I he proi)l(' arc. thorrforc, essentially fishermen, all other pursuits being
of secondary imiwrlance. Whales arc pursued only hy the tribes of the west
coast of Vancouver Island. Other tribes are satisfied with the dead carcasses
of whales which drift ashore. Sea lions and seals are harpooned, the barbed
harpoon point being either attached to a bladder or tied to the stern of the canoe.
The harpoon lines are made of cedar bark and sinews. I he meat of these sea
animals is eaten, while their intestines are used for the manufacture of bow-
strings and bags. Codfish and halibut are caught by means of hooks. These
are attached to fish lines made of kelp. I he hook is provided with a sinker,
while the upper part is kept afloat by a bladder or a wooden buoy. Cuttlefish
are used for bait. The fish are either roasted over or near the fire or boiled in
wooden kettles by means of red-hot stones. Those intended for use in winter
are split in strips and dried in the sun or over the fire. Salmon are caught in
weirs and fish traps when ascending the rivers, or by means of nets dragged
between two canoes. Later in the season salmon are harpooned. For fishing
m deeper water, a very long double-pointed harpoon is used. Herring and
oulachon are caught by means of a long rake. I he oulachon are tried in canoes
or kettles filled with water, which is heated by means of red-hot stones. The
oil is kept in bottles made of dried kelp. In winter, dried halibut and salmon
dipped in oil is one of the principal dishes of the tribes living on the outer coast.
Clams and mussels are collected by the women ; they are eaten fresh, or strung
on sticks or strips of cedar bark and dried for winter use. Cuttlefish are caught
by means of long sticks; sea eggs are obtained by means of round bag nets.
Fish roe, particularly that of herring, is collected in great quantities, dried and
eaten with oil.
"Sea grass, berries and roots are gathered by the women. The sea grass
is cut, formed into square cakes and dried for winter use. 1 he same is done
with several kinds of berries, which when used are dissolved in water and eaten
mixed with fish oil. Crabapples are boiled and kept in their juice until late in the
winter. They are also eaten with fish oil. The food is kept in large boxes
which are bent of cedar wood, the bottom being sewed to the sides.
"In winter deer are hunted. Formerly bows and arrows were used in their
pursuit, but these have now been replaced by guns. The bow was made of yew
wood or of maple. The arrows had stone, bone and copper points. Bows and
arrows were carried in wooden quivers. Deer are also captured by being driven
into large nets made of cedar bark, deer sinews or nettles. Elks are hunted in
the same way. For smaller animals traps are used. Deer and bears are also
caught in large traps. Birds were shot with arrows provided with a thick, blunt
point. Deer skins are worked into leather and used for various purposes, prin-
cipally for ropes and formerly for clothing.
" I he natives of this region go barelegged. The principal part of their
clothing IS the blanket, and this was made of tanned skins or woven of mountain
goat wool, dog's hair, feathers or a mixture of both. The thread is spun on the
bare leg and by means of a spindle. Another kind of blanket is made of soft
cedar bark, the warp being tied across the weft. These blankets are trimmed with
fur. At the present lime woolen blankets are most extensively used. At festive
occasions "button blankets" are worn. Most of these are light blue blankets
with a red border set with mother-of-pearl buttons. Many are also adorned
with the crest of the owner, which is cut out in red cloth and sewed on to the
blanket. Men wear a shirt under the blanket, while women wear a petticoat
in addition. Before the introduction of woolen blankets, women used to wear
an apron made of cedar bark and a belt made of the same material. When
canoein or working on the beach, the women wear large water-tight hats made
of basketry. In rainy weather a water-tight cape or poncho made of cedar bark
IS used.
48
" The women dress their hair in two plaits, while the men wear it compara-
tively short. The latter keep it back from the face by means of a strap of fur
or cloth tied around the head. Ear and nose ornaments are used extensively,
rhey are made of bone and abalone shell. The women of the most northern
tribes (from about Skeena River northward) wear labrets.
"A great variety of baskets are used — large wicker baskets for carrying
fish and clams, cedar-bark baskets for purposes of storage. Mats made of cedar
bark, and in the south such made of rushes, are used for bedding, packing, seats,
dishes, covers of boxes and similar purposes.
"In olden times work in wood was done by means of stone and bone imple-
ments. Trees were felled with stone axes and split by means of wooden or bone
wedges. Boards were split out of cedar trees by means of these wedges. After
the rough cutting was finished, the surface of the wood was planed with adzes,
a considerable number of which were made of jade and serpentine boulders,
which materials are found in several rivers. Carvings were executed with stone
and shell knives. Stone mortars and pestles were used for mashing berries.
Paint pots of stone, brushes and stencils made of cedar bark, formed the outfit
of the Indian painter. Pipes were made of slate, of bone or of wood.
"Canoes are made of cedar wood. The types of canoes vary somewhat
among the different tribes of the coast, depending also largely upon whether the
canoe is to be used for hunting, traveling or fishing. The canoe is propelled
and steered by means of paddles.
"The houses are made of wood and attain considerable dimensions. 1 he
details of construction vary considerably among the various tribes, but the gen-
eral appearance is much alike from Comox to Alaska, while farther south the
square northern house gives way to the long house of the Coast Salish."
The native population is not now. nor never was, reliably counted on the
coast or in Alaska.
The Indian with his family migrates from herring to salmon, salmon to seal,
seal to deer, deer to berries, etc. His life is one of existence only. The simplest
foods, raw at that, and a blanket are enough to make him perfectly content.
The spreading branches of a tree, the canopy of heaven, a spruce bough or bark
hut, a shack, a skin teepee or most any convenient pretense for shelter is his home
as he roams in search of food. If his stomach is full, the house, whatever it
may be, is a mansion and the country a most desirable one. 1 hese habitations
are everywhere, but not one in ten are occupied, which fact should be taken into
consideration when estimating the people. The statistics should be taken at a
time when the Indians are all in the villages, and they should be numbered and
scheduled in the family or tribe to which they belong. I o use their tribe totem,
or badge, would be very pleasing to them and more readily understood.
1 he Indians are changing their manner of living. Many of them go with
the whaling or cod boats to the Arctic waters, others to the canneries along the
coast, others to the interior, some to the mills, some to the garbage dumps of the
towns and cities and some to the hop fields. One year one place, the next
another; sometimes alone, at others with a large family or many families. I heir
old customs have little or no binding force now. 1 hey marry on short acquaint-
ance into any tribe, and separate at pleasure.
All but the oldest can speak English, and they speak their own dialect, or
"Chinook." Chinook is a trade jargon. Mr. Hale early prepared a list of
Chinook words. It was found to consist of the following: f- rom Nootka. 18;
English. 41 ; French. 34; Chinook Indian. 111. I find no trouble :n under-
standing them or in making them understand me (when ihey wish to do so) any-
where on the coast.
49
General Hallc.k in his offn lal report t^avc tin- follownit/ population of
vSiwasli on the Alaskan C oasl :
Hydas, Prince of Wales Island 600
Hennagas. Cape r-*olc 300
Chatsinas. Northern Islands of Alexander Arrhi|)clav; > 300
Tongas, Tonga Island, etc 500
Slikeens, on Stikeen River and coast 1,000
kakes. on Kupreanoff Island 1 .200
kuins, Frederick Sound 800
koot/-noo.-, Arimirally island 800
Awks, Tahkoo River 800
I ahkoos and Sundowns, on coast near I ahkoo River 500
Chilkahts, Linn Canal . 2,000
Hood-su-noo-hoos, Chatham Straits 1,000
Hunnahs (Hoo-noos), Linn Canal and Cape Spencer 1,000
Sitkas, Baranoff Island 1,200
Copper River 150
kenai, north of Copper River 2,500
Total Sivvash (1869). 14.650
Elliott, Dall, Jackson and others in those days more qualified to numerate
the natives than persons unfamiliar with them, usually reported the natives to be
fewer in number than above given.
At the present time no tribe or "kwan" is larger than it was then. Some
have entirely disappeared, and others nearly so. My own opinion is that the
whole Indian population on the Pacific Coast, from Dixon Entrance to Cooks
Inlet (excepting the ^ akutats) will not exceed 10,000 population. The Rus-
sian estimate for 1838 in whole of Alaska was 40,000; south of "^I'akutat,
10,000.
INDIAN RELIGION.
It can hardly be said that the native Siwash had a religion, but such as it
was It consisted of witchcraft, traditions, legends, superstitions, shamanism and
frenzied fear of evil spirits.
The Siwash does not fear or worship God. He fears the Devil ; and his
religious efforts are put forth to appease, deceive, frighten, cajole, or in some
manner outwit, outrun or outdo him.
He does not call upon God to assist him in this, but uses all his craft and
cunning, all his knowledge of escape learned from the wild animals, all his fanati-
cism, all the baths, herbs, fires, etc., believed to be injurious to devils, all his
hideous paints, masks, dances and incantations or songs, and in the end. if the
sick do not recover, if the hunt is no more successful, if famine, pestilence or
other trouble grows worse, he calls in the whole family, or the witch doctor or
the Shaman. And if still unfortunate in obtaining relief from the devil a witch
may be pointed out among his people and tortured or killed, or the village may be
deserted forever.
No good fortune is attributed to God, but to the licking of the devil or
prowess of the Indian. All misfortune, however, is charged to the Devil. It may
be the earthquake, smoking volcano, elements of the weather, unfavorable season,
smallpox, chasing of the fish or game, loss in war, in any event, it is always the
Devil. No wonder he wears rabbit feet, asafetida, teeth, claws, beaks, stones
and the like, when he considers many of them as charms against the evil one.
No wonder he adorns himsell so badly with masques, paints, etc. They give
him success, health and life, whatever and wherever his mission may be.
50
He did not hesitate to take the Hfe of his parent or best friend if con-
victed of witchcraft, nor to pay to the Shaman or witch doctor the last blanket
or chattel he possessed for relief from his fancied misfortune.
Instead of lookm to God for protection, he looks to his charms, one of
the best being the totem of his tribe.
His philosophical, stoical, ancestrial, devil-fearing theology is more similar
to that of the Chinese than of any other people.
The same may be said with regard to his contented theory ol life, his atti-
tude toward women and children, the fearless manner in which he dies, and many
other phases of his life.
His wrongs magnify before us. We should not forget that in ma.iy locali-
ties in our own country now we find people of our own race believing in witch-
craft. And while he was burning witches on the Pacific Coast we were e.xecuting
them on the Atlantic.
A moment ago I said he was like the Chinese in his attitude toward chil-
dren (practicing female infanticide). Perhaps I should have found the likeness
more nearly at home, where such practices are ten times worse than they ever
were with the Siwash. His creed permitted it; we are traitors to ours.
One author terms the religion "Devil worship." It is generally known as
"Shamanism," and is about the same as that of the ancient Tartars, and still
practiced in Northeastern Asia.
The first white man to penetrate the unknown Alaska found that the interior
Indians had a tradition of a flood, or glacial period, and another of the creation.
When a research was made on the caost, it was found that the Indians
had similar traditions long prior to the coming of the first white. Traditions
enough can yet be secured from them, but those coming from such reliable men
as Elliott, Dall or Jackson, secured while the Indian was still living in his own
way, are most desired.
I quote the folowin from Dall: "Their religion is a feeble Polytheism.
Yell is the maker of wood and water. He put the sun, moon and stars in their
places. He lives in the east, near the headwaters of the Naas River. * * *
There was a time when man groped in the darkness in search of the world. At
that time the Thlinket lived who had a wife and sister. He loved the former
so much that he did not permit her to work. Eight little red birds, called kun,
were always around her. One day she spoketo a stranger. The little birds flew
and told the jealous husband, who prepared to make a box to shut his wile up.
He killed all his sister's children because they looked at his wife. Weeping, the
mother went to the seashore. A whale saw her and asked her the cause of her
grief, and when informed, told her to swallow a small stone from the beach
and drink some sea water. In eight months she had a son whom she hid from
her brother. I his son was Yehl (God). At that time the sun, moon and stars
were kept by a rich chief in separate boxes, which he allowed no one to touch.
Yehl, by strategy, secured and opened these boxes so that the moon and stars
shone in the sky. When the sun box was opened, the people, astonished at the
unwonted glare, ran ofl into the woods, mountains and even into the water,
becoming animals and fish. He also provided fire and water. I laving arranged
everything for the I hlinkets (Siwash) he disappeared where neither man nor
spirit can penetrate."
There are similar traditions and legends for everything and of every place
of sufficient interest to a Siwash for a subject of meditation. I he stories of the
Creation, of the worm, fi.sh, mountain, sea. etc.. are numerous and as weird and
tanciful as those of the earth or themselves.
1 he brilliant aurora, smoking mountain, important s.ilmon and the like are
big subjects for bigger stories full of phantoms, ghosts, goblins and bugaboos too
51
iiunuTous lo mention ni a puMu ution as brief as ihis. I lie above story of the
Creation is a fair sample of millions, at leastan inexhaustible supply. The most
interesting feature of that story is: Where did they get the material for making
it so murh Iikr our own story of the ( reafion ;ind fatherless Savior?
BURIAL.
If you lived m a country where ghoulish animals and birds, gormand-Iike,
wer always and everywhere ready lo devour the dead, and you had no tools
or lumber or even a spade with which lo make a coffin or dig a grave, what would
you do with your dead?
Circumstances, little by little, would make a custom, and custom makes
law. Which IS exactly what happened to the Siwash.
I ie mummified and inclosed them in caves, as near Sitka (where a perfectly
preserved mummy was found two years ago) ; rolled them in blankets or incased
them in a bundle of sticks or split slabs and hung them in a tree or on a pole
scaffolding, as at Fort Rupert; cremated them and incased the ashes in the
hollow of the family totem pole with those other members of the family cremated
before; or inclosed them in a small cache or gravehouse, erected from the ground
or from a pole scaffolding six or more feet above the ground, as at Wrangell and
elsewhere. The modes of burial prove nothing as to their religion or ancestry.
It simply shows that they honored their dead by placing them where they would
be least disturbed and best preserved. I notice that several methods were used
by the same tribes originally. Then came the whites with spade and Bible and
persuaded them that it would be better to bury in the ground, which they prac-
tically all do now. Within another century we will be back to their method —
cremation.
MARRIAGES.
At the present time marriages among the Siwash Indians are of the "com-
mon-law" kind usually, and divorces are as frequent and easily obtained as
among the whites at Seattle.
In fact, neither the old customs of the Indians or new of the missionary are
observed.
In general it may be said that few laws of the whites are observed, and
fewer customs of the natives followed now, excepting such Christianized com-
munities as Sitka and Metlakahtla.
The officers of our government and courts give little attention to the con-
duct of the native, so long as he does not involve our race or property. One
of the missionaries tells of open murder of a wife, unpunished. The Indian
even braged that he purchased his wife and had a right to kill her if he chose.
Where tribal government existed, no doubt our officers had little authority,
as was decided in our Supreme Court December 14, 1883 — holding that our
Federal Courts could not convict a tribe Indian of murder.
The forms of marriage years ago were as varied among the tribes as those
of burial, and the bride had little or nothing to say in the matter. She might
be purchased or stolen by the groom, or exchanged by her parents for a trinket.
She is considered a chattel by the husband, treated as a slave by him, and is a
subject of ridicule and abuse by the children. All the work is hers to do, except
the lordly occupation of hunting. At one time many of the tribes imprisoned
the girl for several months as she arrived at womanhood, and then pierced her
lip near the corner of the mouth and inserted a stick, piece of ivory, silver pin
or the like, which was enlarged as she grew older, or became a wife, a mother,
etc. Some of the old squaws had large round-ended pieces of stone inserted, .so
heavy and big as to draw the features of the face all out of shape. Perhaps for
52
the same barbaric reasons that the Chinese have when they black the teeth or
bind the feet of their women and girls, or other natives of Alaska have when they
tattoo theirs.
I attempted to get a list of the numerous grounds oi divorce, and was told
that a squaw had no grounds for divorce, but that her husband might divorce
her for laziness, drunkenness, and for anything he chose, except I did not find
the ground or reason of the white man — "incompatibility of temperaments."
Prostitution, bigamy, polygamy and even incest have been common, and
even now occur not infrequently.
A man's wealth is often measured by the number of squaws that he pos-
sesses for wives. They are the most faithful slaves. By their industry he ac-
quires numerous blankets and chattels. These he can give to his friends at the
Potlatch, and they in time will at their Potlatches give him as much or more.
Numerous kinships are added to his iamily and tribe, so that it is only a ques-
tion of time when a man with many wives becomes a powerful chieftain.
SLAVERY.
The "Siwash" had their slaves, mostly women, taken from the weak Stick
Indians on the ^ ukon, or some other weak tribe of the interior or Puget Sound
country.
1 he treatment of these slaves was more cruel than ol the wives, not much
better than of the dogs, and ofttimes as atrocious and bloody as that of the
witches.
The owner of a slave had full authority to inflict any injury upon or kill
his servant. Although slavery is practically discontinued, we here and there
find a slave in servitude or at liberty choosing voluntarily to remain in the land
of his master, but the social rating of a liberated slave continues to be that of a
slave.
CANOES.
On this timber-covered shore, where the larger part of the food comes from
the sea; where the forest is so dense that migration is obstructed; the mountains
too high to climb and the wind and tides so useful for motor power, the canoe
becomes the most useful of the Indian's possessions.
I ales and traditions of these Indians associate the canoe from the begin-
ning. At first they must have been made with the stone ax or chisel, then hard-
ened copper, ivory and bits of iron.
It vvasnecessary to fell the tree and convey it to the shore, then to dig out
the interior and nicely round the sides, until it became a thin shell, when it was
filled with water and hot stones placed into the water until it was boiling, and
when well steamed and softened it was warped and braced in graceful lines to
glide over the water with the least resistance.
I hese canoes are in all sizes from baby dimensions for children or one
person up to war canoes large enough for 1 00 men. We used one large enough
for 50 men last year for cruising along the shores of Alaska, propelled by a
gasoline engine. I believe there are almost as many of these canoes on this coast
as there are Indians.
A squaw in one of them could make a Cornell oarsman in a Peterborough
"go some." Man, woman and child fit to them as though they were a part of
the craft.
Everywhere they look the same, everywhere the same neat, ad/-like prints
in straight rows show how carefully and same-like they are made. Old canoes,
made generations ago before while man's tools were obtained, appear the same
as now.
Some of the potlatch bowls and totem poles show similar construction and
marks of that universally used hand-adz.
53
SHAMF.N. MDSIC. SONGS AND DANCES.
A Padcrcwski musical, symphony ordiaslra, colonial hall. jig. huck and
win^ dance, (luadiillc, o|)cra or some other classical or otherwise of ours, would
to an untutored, unsaved savage seem as strange, vulgar, inharmonious as his
potlatch. funeral, marriage, war or other dance, his battle-chants, death-wails
or other songs and his rude skin drum or other music would the first time lo one
of our race. Our civilized, calcimined maidens at a formal evening or colonial
ball can oulslrip in more ways than one the most comely Siwash belle at a chief's
potlatch dance.
I he Indian has his songs of war and peace; ol death and birth; of this
life and the next. The following is a portion of one translated by Dall, as
sung by a squaw while in hunger she waited for the return of her husband
singing to the pappoose.
"The wind blows over the ^ ukon ;
My husband hunts the deer on the Koyukum Mountains.
Ahmi! Ahmi! Sleep little one.
There is no wood for the fire.
The stone ax is broken, my husband carries the other.
Where is the sun-warmth? Hid in the dam of the beaver, waiting spring
time.
Ahmi! Ahmi! Sleep little one, wake not."
Numerous songs with the music may be found in the valuable collection by
Fran/. Boas.
Medicine dances, except those given for entertainment, arc rarely seen now,
but I quote from Karr as an eye witness to a real one:
"Presently he stripped himself and opened his box of charmes, took out
a wooden figure of a crane, with a frog clinging to its back, with a lot of sea-
otter teeth and carved walrus tusks. The latter he placed on the stomach of the
dieing man. Meantime the drums and sticks kept up the monotinous noise, and
the heat and stench were increased by the fire. He grew more and more ex-
cited, his contortions and jerks more active, crouching, gesticulating. -i^ ^ *
At a sign his hair was uncoiled by an assistant magican. its length was at least
five feet * * every minute or two white eagle down was blown over and
stuck fast to his head and bare body, giving hair and skin a hoary and ancient
look. ' The patient soon died. 1 he hideous masks, rattles, and dress of the
shaman, his wierd songs and yells, his howls and groans, his writhing aggonizing
contortions, and his exhaustion and collapse, continues until the pay runs out,
the patient recovers or dies.
The shaman is more feared than the chief, and in some ways has more
power, at least over the devil. He is too sacred and lazy to work or risk his
life in grave peril. Ever since the coast Indians have been known, the medicine
man, shaman, or witch doctor, has been losing power and influence.
At the present time the Indian (unlike his cousin in the states) has no
government or native doctor.
I he pulmonary and rheumatic diseases kill or maim a large percent of
the natives. A disease known among them as "Hip Joint Disease" is very
common even where they are most sanitary, as in Sitka. I saw young and old,
men and women, swinging themselves on crutches or dragging their helpless
lower extremeties as a result of this disease. Possibly it is a sort of rheumatism.
POTLACH.
The potlach may be given by and Indian because he thinks he will not
live much longer, and by giving away his blankets and other gifts and a feast
to his friends he pays his debts and makes an honorable name for himself. Or it
54
may be given as an announcing event of the retiring of an old or beginning of a
new chief. Or it may be given for the purpose of outranking a rival, or many
other reasons. But some of the underliemg reasons are, that the giver is entitled
to and will get in return any where from 25 to 200 percent for his gifts from the
recipient or his friends, and a great name. Therefore it has a three-fold bene-
ficial result — it makes his rival poor, it makes him rich, and gives him honor
and rank.
Invitations to these potlaches are often sent out to thousands, covering the
whole coast from Yakutat to Puget Sound, and several months may be re-
quired to make the canoe journey. Eating, drinking and gay festivities, georgeous
dress and lavish gifts continue until the givers estate is exhausted and he is ap-
parently as poor as poverty. But that is the richest moment of his life, his
honor and generosity will be handed down from generation to generation, totems
high up on the top of a pole will announce to all coming near for years the
greatness of this man, and the gifts from time to time will be repaid with usury.
At these gatherings the history, traditions, legands, customs and news are
related, and thus disseminated and perpetuated ; the young bucks and squaws
form new acquaintances and often marry; matters of tribal importance are dis-
cussed and decided; in brief for a people that has no school, church, books, news-
papers, courts or law-making assemblies, it serves for all purposes. At different
seasons of the year hundreds of natives gather at Yakutat Bay to take seal for
the year's supply, or at Dixon Entrance or Nase River to take herring for the
same purpose, or at other places for salmon, and these meetings are important
as the potlach. They unify the tribes.
Blankets are the medium of exchange, and values are fixed by comparison,
for example a canoe is worth 10 blankets (single).
A good quality of government blanket, a double blanket and specially
made blankets are worth more than the single blanket used as the base of value.
There are engraved copper plates in use on the coast which, according to their
engraving, are worth a certain number of blankets. The ordinary cheap white
blanket is perhaps the correct standard now. The Chilkat blanket, so much
sought by tourists and playing such prominent part in the display of chiefs and
extravagant dress on important occasions, is worth from $50 to $1 50.
TOTEMS.
Totems from Seattle to Valdez, Chief Totems, Potlatch Totems. Tribe
Totems, Grave Totems, Totems for sale, of slate, of bone of wood, of ivory
woven into baskets, and blankets, for two cents up to two hundred dollars each.
Like the canoes and dogs, they are almost as numerous as the natives,
and as illy kept.
Many lie on the earth, rotting records are they, some carved two. three
hundred years ago. Others, yet standing, have but dim traces of the bright
paints which once made them look like the wise, silly, courag'i'ous, sacred, ludic-
rous, stern or frendly faces of men, or of birds, animals, fishes and devils.
In those days they marked lone cabins, deserted graves, also thriving villages
and homes of an undisturbed race. Now they lie rotting and hidden as they
fall like forest trees. None of the old ones are preserved, none ever repainted, no
new ones made, except for commercial purposes.
Neither is a "Siwash" born in these times who will replace the ancestor
of totemic days. The young man works in the mill and cannery or is devoted
to idleness, hardly able to speak in the language of his father and mother. But
few native dwellings show the mythological totem faces of old. fewer are oc-
cupied at all. I he canoes, blankets mittens, etc., are more often of the com-
merical kind from the store, containing no badge of the tribe or clan, nor fancy
needlework of the squaws, as of old.
55
56
■n I'CKM
57
C on^ress should < (jnic Uj tl)f rescue ol lliese jnoijle, and make more public
parks where totems could he shown and preserved as at Indian Kivcr Park,
Silka, where the only new and perfect totems can now he seen. If Hassan, now
roltniK in the hushes, was on the hanks of the Hudson all the senators of New
Lngland and the Atlantic Coast would join in making it a National Park the
next session, and save every shack and pole, but for the Pacific not "six bits"
could be obtamed.
I he native had no written language, and no hooks of record, to hand
down to prosterity, therefore, Egyptian-like, he painted and carved his family
tree, great events, history, etc., in that hieroglyphical tolemic sign language
nowhere so uniformally used and clearly understood as among the natives be-
tween Puget Sound and Yakufat.
But few Indians could tell much about this queer race custom and fewer
would if they could. White men have not thoroughly mastered it. 1 he sand-
covered ruins of the deserts of Asia and Africa hide no more interesting
mysteries than the sills of the Cascades and forest debris of the Alaska Coast.
While a remnant of ttottering representatives of the genuine native, his resi-
dence, totem, basket and the like remain, the time and cause would be most op-
portune for exhaustive research.
If some one with the money and philanthrophy of a Jessup would come
forth, I am sure men well able and qualified would join in the task of thoroughly
exhuming and recording the past and present of these people and their ancestors
from Dixon Entrance to Pt. Barrow. Certainly one or two of the twenty-five
colleges and universities now digging m the sands of the Orient might profitably
turn their spades to the newest shore of the newest continent, deciper the to-
temic language and dig up the numerous evidences of a strange people on the very
limit of the Occident.
The transportation companies, towns and people of Alaska will lose a very
valuable asset if they allow these old villages and totems to disappear. Many
tourists come across the continent and even from Europe to see them, and in-
cidentally become interested in the country. Suppose some native should ask
one of us, why we erect monuments and what they indicate, and to explain
the W. O. W., the Cross, or one of a thousand other emblems? Would our
answer be more intelligent to the Indian than his to us?
I believe the relation of the ^'akutat to the interim., natives is the reason
why he is not a totem Indian.
Among the Esquimaux. Aleuts, Siberians, Chinese and Japanese may be
found carvings in wood, stone, copper, and ivory resembling those of the Si-
wash (or Thlinkit). These similarities will assist in tracing the Mongolian
from Asia to South America or the reverse, over a pathway along the Pacific
Coast. To the writer no connecting link is suggestive between the Mongolian
and the "Red Man, ' the real North American Indian of the interior.
The people, including most students, have always "taken it for granted"
that an Indian was an Indian, and all of the same race. This year thousands
of tourists will have opportunity to observe the Thlinkit or Siwash as we usually
call him, and to even a casual observer the marked difference between him and
the real Indian will be apparent.
The totem and tribal badge revealed a volume of information to those fa-
miliar with them — the tribe. location, marriage, ancestor, ownership, social
position, etc.
The height and number of totems could fairly be attributed to the wealth
and popularity of the owner of the pole.
The bird or animal supposed to be the ancestor of the tribe usually has the
place of honor at the top, and other animals, sacred, or useful, and the influential
38
members and totems of both the husband and wife'e lamihes, make up the other
figures of the family totem pole.
Other potlatch poles, grave poles, chief poles and the like make up a
hideous wilderness of grotesque face-trees on the waterfront of every old Indian
village between the Straits of Fuca and Yakutat Bay.
INDIAN BASKETS.
A thousand miles westward of the mainland of America, and almost
over to Japan, is Attu the first island of the Aleutian chain, and the home of
the Attu basket. There are only a half hundred natives, and time has little
value. Tourists rarely ever reach the place; pride rather than commercialism is
woven into the work.
H.\SKK'r.< i"i;i>.M rAcii'ic coast m" .m.a.ska
The Aleut, Yakutat, and Siwash, Irom Attu to Seattle, now and for time
immemoral, were makers of baskets, having somewhat of a general resemblance,
but enough individuality to readily classify them in the eyes of a well informed
dealer. In fact the work of a single weaver may be distinguished.
As a general rule, the crude root basket of Seattle make grows <» little botlei
oil Vancouver Island, and cleaner at Mellakalhia, and very much improved,
with more straw, and native dyes, at Sitka, and still more improved, with finer
work, native dyes and better straw at Yakutat, and reaching the climax ol
b.isket-prefection in a delicate thing of skill and beauty on Attu Island.
It is said that only one woman on Attu can make this perfect work, and
no successor has learned the art. The good baskets are made by the surviving
squaws of the old stock, and but few of the young women can make them. They
will speedily become scarcer and cruder as the present weavers die ofl.
39
I lii-se haskcts vvrrc ol llir most usclul implcriK-nls before the toming of the
uliilc man. I hey did the work of a water bucket. fjoiMn^; keltic, fish basket,
baby cab, (ish trap and burial casket.
Nearly all the baskets south of Wrangell an- made from spruce or other
roots, steamed, healed and split, and usually colored with Diamond Dyes, and
of little value. 1 heir genuineness may be determined by the "Siwash odor,"
which neither age nor soap will remove, and which can not be f ounterfitted, nor
forgotten.
In this basketry, sea weeds, roots, splits, reeds and grasses, yarns, wild
goat hair and twigs are used. The gathering of these materials and preparation
thereof, and of the native coloring matters, is a task of small proportions.
Coloring matter is extracted from mosses, in fact from animal, vegetable
and mineral matter. I he well informed buyer will not purchase a Diamond Dye
colored article.
The weavers have learned from the tourists or are instructed by the mis-
sionaries or traders, to use their own dyes and to make a variety of styles, in-
cluding cuff and collar boxes, car cases, sewing baskets, etc.
Some of the material used is so delicate that it must be kept in water until
woven into the basket. It is told that in Attu a certain kind of work must be
made under water.
Totem, animal, and plant designs are most freguently woven into the basket.
Great war hats were often made in the same manner, likewise potlatch uniforms.
These baskets may be found in every museum of importance in the world,
and in many homes in Europe and America. They can be purchased cheaper
in the shops of Seattle than in Alaska, but the tourists perfers to have some
native or local story with his souvnir, and therefore purchases of the Indian, pre-
fering to pay for it. Many curio stores await the traveler on the Alaska shore,
and hundreds of Indians listen for the boat whistle, and meet the boat with their
wares of every kind for sale.
Goat-horns spoons. Elk-horn knife handles. Moose-horn knapkin rings; or-
naments of ivory, stone and bone; jewelry of gold, silver, copper; souvnirs of
tusks, teeth, claws, hooves, beaks, tallons, fish and shells by the hundreds of
thousands are for sale by the natives and stores everywhere on the Coast.
A few Chilkat blankets are made worth from $50 to $150 each, and like
the best baskets, rank at the top of woven wares made by unschooled natives
any where in the world.
i
1 '
til I IK. \i' i:i..\.\'Ki-:'r
60
INDIANS.
From Sitka, north and westward. Russian influences have not died out,
the Greek cross marks the school or mission and cemetery, and the priest
is the most influential factor among the natives.
While the results of Russia missionary work are good, it by no means
is equal to the results of the Protestant churches and schools. Particularly is
this true with regard to the cleanliness, industry and moral habits of the convert
or student.
All up and down the coast the high Indian regard lor the Presbyterian
school at Sitka may be heard. It is the high goal to which many a:id Indian
youth aspires, and, next to Carlisle, is the most lofty aspiration.
It IS a sort of post-graduate institution lor those receiving a little schooling
elsewhere.
The Government is now installing industrial schools at Nushagak, Klana-
kanak, Alsik, Chogiung, Quinhagak, Tagic, Tanana, Tatitleka, Fort ^ ukon.
Circle City and Eagle, but the Presbyterians at Sitka have been using this method
for years, both for boys and girls. I examined a lot of their work last year. 1 he
most important consisted of the building of a parsonage from the ground to the
top in and outside such as would be creditable in any city, and boats of ex-
cellent construction. I see that they are capable of building a new college for
themselves, and need it. I think the church or some philanthropic person should
advance the money for the material and put them to work at it.
The tuition is normal, the instructions are good in the lower grades, the
Christian environments are uplifting, and the students appear so clean, polite and
different from those of same age found elsewhere, that they do not seem to be
of the same race.
The Russians have a large school in Sitka also, and many other places
in Alaska. So that now almost every considerable Indian settlement has a
Russian, Government, Episcopalian, Presbyterian mission or other school of
some kind.
AlA.^K .\.\|) KA'ITI.I-: <>!■■ I .M ' I A .\ iPucroK
l'( i'|-|,A'l'< '11 I >ISII < II' \\i >i i|
61
II.sll AND I-UR.
1 lif pioducls ol tin- lisli ,incJ lur industry belwcen Dixon Lntrantc and
Cooks Inlet for 1908 will a^KifKate about eight millions of dollars, and employ
about ten thousand persons. I he professional trapper and hunter has largely
given way to a modern commercial corporation. I he fishing and cannery work
IS done by Indian, ( hinesc and Japanese, under directions of a while superin-
tendent.
Many of the cod and halibut boats tie up in Puget Sound for the winter,
and the canney crews during the off season go to their homes, or other em-
ployment.
The Government keeps several cruisers, cutters and other boats for service
on the Pacific and Arctic seas, most important of which is the fleet of revenue
cutters.
The most difficult duly for these cutters is to watch the seal heard, and ap-
prehend alien poachers who attempt to raid the rookies or fish within the three-
mile limit. At this moment the fleet lies beautifully at rest in the harbor at Seattle
(April 29th, 1909), and the news is cabled down that the seal heard is going
north to the Pribloff Islands, and is now passing Sitka, followed by Japanese
poachers, who are taking them illegally, without hindrance. But that kind of
service to Alaska is about the same as it has received since I 867. A few days
later Mr. Shoup, U. S. Marshall at Sitka, armed a launch and took about 30
Japanese poachers, I 2 skins and a boat, for illegal sealing.
A more specific statement of the fur and fish industry will be included in
the second division of this book.
LIGHT HOUSES AND AIDS TO NAVAGATION.
The modern, large and well constructed light houses on the coast of Canada
and the numerous other lights, bouys and aids to navagation make a striking
contrast to the small, ill-looking light houses, drifting bouys and absent aids on
the Alaska coast. We should have had an appropriation of a quarter million
for such aids from the last Congress; instead the puny sum of sixty thousand
dollars was allowed. It was reported that Captain Pond would this year place
I 1 7 aids, including I 3 fog signals and 72 lights between Dixon Entrance and
Valdez, but the amount of relief can be best surmised from the amount to be ex-
pended. Congress overlooks the fact that the inside passage is the busiest and
most dangerous marine highway on the Pacific. It should be charged with man-
slaughter for the numerous loss of life in these waters because of its criminal
neglect.
TIMBER.
The Pacific Slope of the Coast Range from Dixon Entrance to Cooks Inlet
is densly covered with timber.
The forest to a stranger appears much like the cedar, fir and hemlock of
Washingeon, but it is not the same at all.
The trees grow shorter, the limbs nearer to the ground, the wood becomes
softer and lighter, as we proceed northward from Puget Sound. By the time
Dixon Entrance is reached no first-class timber for commercial purposes is found.
The strength and weight of the timber on the coast of Alaska is about the same
as eastern cotton wood or linn.
The Government has made no cruise, estimate, or even reconnoissance of
Alaska timber, and I was unable to get any valuable information from it. con-
sequently my statement is made on my test. and enquiry at the mills along the
Coast.
62
1 he early reports and the statements of most authors about the "mex-
haustable timber supply," some going so far as to say it was superior to any m
the world, are entirely untrue, and have been very misleading.
This fifteen hundred miles of coast forest in Alaska will produce no first-
class lumber. The trees have grown up without sunshine, in the mist and fogs
of the sea, and they are soft and porous as sponges. When the lumber is dry
it will weight about one-half as much as the commercial dry lumber, and in
time it may furnish material for boxes, crates, barrels and second or third rate
building material for sheeting and the like.
There are saw mills at all the larger villages, and some at canneries and
mines, but the output is for local use. All the good finishing lumber, bridge
timber and the like, requiring clear, clean and strong wood, is shipped up Irom
Puget Sound, and even many of the railroad ties, and some of the piling. The
timber laws of Alaska are such that the timber cannot be obtained for outside
trade. It wold be a very harmful condition if the timber was fit for outside
markets.
Several foresters have been stationed along the Coast to protect the timber,
and a large launch for their use will be completed by May I, 1909, with which
they can cruise about the islands and shore. Timber-testing machinery has been
installed at the University of Washington, where teste will be made this or next
year, without the often requested Government assistance.
AGRICULTURE ON THE COAST BETWEEN DIXON
ENTRANCE AND COOKS INLET.
Prof. C. C. Georgeson, whose residence stands on the history-famed site
of Baranrof s Castle at Sitka, is at the head of the Department of Agriculture
for Alaska, and ably performs his duty.
The Coast Range descends abruptly to the sea on the west, and there are
but few deltas, gorges, or glacier morains large enough for farming or gardening.
Wherever room can be found all the usual garden vegetables, grasses, berries
and such grains as oates and barley may be raised successfully, and sufficient
for local use.
R. W. DeArmond, of Sitka, has charge oi the experimental station
there; James W. Gray at Kenai, and Mr. Heideman at Copper Center.
At these stations last year we found, growing successfully, cabbage, cauli-
flower, parsnips, peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, parsley, onions, leek, radish, turnips,
rutabaga, potatoes, rape, beans, blue grass, red top. meadow grass, timothy,
wheat, barley, oats, rye, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, red and black
currants, salmon berries and a cross between the salmon and raspberry, accom-
by Prof. Georgeson.
Berries wild and abundant everywhere in Alaska, .\iid suflicient at this
le to supply local needs. Beach hay. \sild timothy and blue grass may be
in large tracts without clulivation. because of the rainfall and fogs and
lack of sunshine, it is deficient in sacharine and hard to cure. T ruit trees do not
seem to grow well, and the rains wash the polen off so that little or no Iruit
results. In the Copper River country, where the rain fall is slight, the grain, m
fact everything, matures better, and several farmers have taken up homesteads
and are farming successfully. In llic summer the long hot days, and small rain-
fall, may require irrigation for the best results, but the water is easily obtainable,
and the yield is enormous. C attle and horses may be found at all the villages
1^ some of the mines and canneries, doing well on native grasses, requiring
63
little oi no wiiilci (arc or Iced, cxc*"!)! shelter Irom the rains, and hay in case
the snow covers the ground, which is not frequent. I he productions of Alaska
will he marvels in the sight of those who have heretofore looked upon it as an
iccburg.
ALASKA ( ABLK.
A cable runs Irom Seattle a. id I 'oil I ownsend. to all the most important
rommercial stations on the Coast as lar north as Seward, including Ketchikan,
I ladley, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka, Skaguay. f lames Mission, Fort
Liscum. C ordova and Valdez, in all 2,592 miles, to which more is being added
from time to lime. The phone lines, telegraph and wireless branches in Alaska
are feeders. Almost any well known point in Alaska can be reached now by
cable, wireless, or wire communication or all combined. The Government has
suppleemnted its Coast service by a system of wireless stations, which work well
at night but not during the day. The United Wireless, a corporation, has
almost duplicated the Government wires and wireless in Alaska, and it assumes
tho private business of the country.
The cable-ship, Burnsides, is always busy repairing, or extending cable,
and although the Government expense has been large, the income justifies it.
64
DIVISION II
The Aleutian Islands and Coast? cf Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean Irom Cooks
Inlet to Point Barrow.
FIRST, THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND ALKLTIAN
ISLANDS.
There is a wider dissimilarity between these islands and the first division
of Alasl^a than exists between the plains of Kansas and wooded lands of Maine.
[n place of the jagged granite islands and mountains of the timbered
shores, we find oval topped, beautifully rounded domes, symmetrically curved
and robed in dark green grass. In contrast to the daily steamers, one lone
monthly boat breaks the silence of this strange northland. The yet ash covered
jed peaks appear too new for vegetation and are void of mineral.
y thing is on a grand scale. The Black or Japanese Current (T he
Kuio-Shiwo) bathes the shores and fills the air with perpetual spring;
I he long sweeping curve of islands extending nearly to the shores of Siberia
and Japan;
The wide-spreading blue vault of the heavens; the limitless expanse of the
variegated ocean ; and the whole days glow and matchless setting of an Arctic
summer sun. There dwells in this land a spirit of almost pitiful, lovely loneli-
ness.
A few small boats are owned among the islands, a cod, halibut or whaler
puts in for shelter or water at times, or the smoke of some vessel seen far out at
sea, are about the only signs of the busy life of the outside world.
Bristol Bay and Cooks Inlet are almost united by Clark and Iliamna
Lakes, and at several other places the peninsula is nearly severed. Some time
a waterway will be made, which will shorten the route to Nome and the Arctic
almost a thousand miles.
Tri-oh-nek, Toyonak, Kustatan, on Cooks Inlet; Nikhkak, on Lake Clark;
Kak-ho-nak, Kas-an-ahk, Iliamna, on Lake Iliamna; Katmai, Kaguyak, Kami-
shak, Chignik, and Douglass on Shelikof Strait; Koggiung, Kwichakh, Kiniaak,
Naknek, Ugaguk, Nushagak, Igagig and Fort Alexander on Bristol Bay, are
all native or Russian villages now or heretofore occupied by the natives or
Russisna, or both, on the Alaska Peninsula. Also St. Paul, Orlova, .Alsentic.
Karluk, Uyak, and Kadiak on Kadiak Island. All of the larger and some
of the smaller islands are occupied with from one to one hundred natives.
Russians and Creoles. Unga, Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Nikolski are among
the most important settlements. The Russian estimate of Aleut population
for the peninsula and Island was 10,000; they may number hall that many
now, and among them 3,000 other bloods and Creoles. I he Governor, in his
last report, estimated the whole Alaska population at 3 LOGO whites; 33,000
natives, and 7,000 mixed, who work in .Alaska in summer and go elsewhere
for winter. My own opinion is that a census will give the whole native popu-
lation at about 30,000, resident whites 35,000 and non-residents who work
in Alaska in summer only at 20,000.
65
I line arc no hmsoiis to appu'liciid .111 increase ol population amon^ the
Aleuls in the near luture. I he mouiilains and islands are poor in resources.
1 he )a;overnmenl reports copper at Kamishak Bay. coal or coal hearing rocks
on Port Moller. Stcpovak. Chignik and Katmai Bays and on Kodiak and
I rinity Islands, and gold and silver lode on Unalaska. and (jctrolcum seep-
age at the entrance of Cooks Inlet, hut these are all mere prospects, as a rule
not very encouraging.
I he beaver, once i)liii(ilul, is rarely seen now, likewise the land otter.
1 he Schooner Shallcngc. owned by Henry Dirks, of Aaka Island, and used
for sea otter hunting, has been sold to the whalers. Mr. Charles Rosenberg
and his son patrol thirty miles of sea off Unimak and took three skins last
year. The Kodiak bear is the largest known species of that animal. Sports-
men Irom all quarters of the globe long to add him to their store of trophies,
but the native keeps a safe distance. The Aleut takes a few fur seal during
the migration of the herd. The walrus, once plentiful, is now almost extinct
south of Bering Strait. There is a small catch of land furs. One hundred
years ago this country, land and sea. was literally alive with valuable fur. Now
it is poor in every resource except fish. For foods the natives (and Russians)
love the sea urchin. One old Russian lady with us last year ate them alive and
raw. as we do oysters. Mussels are plentiful and palatable, and the octopus,
crab and some clams are used. The hair seal and salmon are the main
supports.
I here are twenty-seven canneries and salteries on the Alaska Peninsula
and Aleutian Islands. These furnish the largest part of home employment.
Some of the natives are employed in other fisheries and on the cod, halibut
and whaling boats away from home; others on Cooks Inlet and Prince Williams
Sound.
/^ Garden vegetables, cattle and sheep do well, and inasmuch as grasses grow
luxuriantly, it would seem that in time the country should provide a comfortable
aTO.4irofttable home for a large population.
C. H. Fry. the packer, has a large stock farm at Kodiak. where a dozen
horses, 200 cattle and 200 sheep thrive, increase and keep fat the year through
on native feed, consisting of beach grass, blue top, timothy and willows. A
small amount of hay and silage is prepared for feed at such times as the snow
may cover the winter pasture. Frost may be expected about September I st.
The Government station at Kodiak. and Calinsky Bay near by, have a
herd of fifty Galloway cattle, from which it is intended to supply the local
tand for cattle of a hardy breed, and provide a dairy for Kodiak.
A good harrowing of the native soil easily prepares the ground tor
thy or grain feeds, over which a mowing machine can be run.
Four or five homesteads have been taken up on Kodiak. The indus-
trial schools and experiment stations will open the way for new resources.
The Government has extensive fish hatcheries at Afognak Island and Kar-
luk River. Bristol Bay and Shelikof Straits afford the best commercial salmon
fishing waters of Alaska. Even the Kuskoquim River is producing fish for
outside market. While all the large rivers northward from Bristol Bay supply
the natives and miners, they will perhaps never produce many fish for the
market.
The fish industry ot Alaska is enormous, employing 13,337 men, one-
half whites, the remainder equally divided between Japs, Chinese and natives,
last year. The capital invested exceeds ten million dollars. Over t\vo hundred
seventeen million fish were taken out last year, amounting to over eleven mil-
lions of dollars. (Nothing but whalebone and walrus ivory from the Arctic.)
66
There are approximately thirty canneries and forty saUeries in Alaska. I he
catch includes principally salmon, halibut, cod, whale, herring, crabs, clams and
sole.
The salmon output last year, given in cases and values, as 69,000 coho
or silver, valued at $275,000; 218,000 dog, at $554,000; 664,00 hump-
back, value $ 1 .700,000; 24,000 king, value $100,000; and 1,663.000 red
sockeye, value $7,318,000.
These fish were caught generally either with gillnet, seine, or trap. But
most excellent sport can be had with a king salmon weighing fifty pounds at
the end of a light trout rod and silk line. Use Hendryx Seattle trout bait
spoon No. 5. A steelhead salmon puts up a noble fight, likewise the coho. A
tenderfoot will find much enjoyment in chasing crabs in four feet of water or
less. After the required number have been caught, boil them alive in the sea
water. No more palatable morsel could be imagined. All the crabs are
cooked this way before being shipped.
In any non-glacial stream, the Dolly Varden (salmon trout) may be
hooked in large numbers on the salmon spawning grounds. They weigh on an
average two pounds, and will make interesting sport with a light trout rod.
The large salmon come up the stream when the tide is about two feet high or
more, then the trout disappear up stream, until the salmon have gone to sea
again, with the ebbing tide.
Last year 385 persons were engaged in halibut fishing, the catch bringing
$1 74.000; almost as many more in the cod fishing marketed $1 34,000. These
figures are under estimates, as large quantities of fish are taken ot which
no record has been made.
Halibut and cod boats go up from San Francisco or Puget Sound and
fish during the summer in all the coast waters. The larger boats go into
Bering Sea, or on the ocean side of the islands. Numerous stations are estab-
lished on the shores, from which fishermen in "dories" go out and catch
the fish hand over hand at the end of hook and line. Some of the boats return
to Seattle with from fifty to a hundred and fifty thousand fish. No one has
ever claimed that it was sport to catch these big, lazy fish. But many a man.
broken in health, has returned from the Alaskan codfish waters, after a sum-
mer's outing on the sea with a codfish diet, retstored to perfect health.
THE BUILDING OF THE COAST MOUNTAINS OF ALASKA.
A chain or system of mountains extends from Cape Horn to Attu. tin-
longest on the globe, and perhaps the newest.
Its eastern slopes are more gentle, the western descends precipitously into
the Pacific Ocean — or rather at one time arose abruptly out of it.
Of Alaska the early explorers and geographers for many years made
maps showing a continuous chain parallel with the coast, and so it appears to
one at a distance on the sea; nevertheless it is bioken up in groups known in
Southeastern Alaska as the Cascades. St. Elias. Wrangell. Chugach. and
Kenai Ranges, and in Western Alaska as Aleutian Range.
Recent lava flows and volcanic action is first noticeable near Dixon En-
trance, then at Sitka, where Mt. Edgecombe was active for about a half century
after discovery by the Russians. But the smoking craters now begin near
Cooii^Inlet. and of the 150 volcanic cones an average of ten arc active. Shishal-
dyC near Unimak Pass, being the most prominent.
The Aleutian Islands are but mountain tops of a range still growinv,'.
Each year new islands appear, volcanoes are created, and the continent en-
;roaches a little more on the sea. But the crust is cooling fast, soon the last
vMcano will cease to belch fire and the day of creation will be at an end.
67
Bogslol IsI.ukI is |)(iI)<»|)s till- inosl attractive of tin- m-w-born islands;
its oldest peak shot out of the ocean in 1796 to a height of 800 feet; others
have heen created and some have disappeared since. In 1906 the revenue
cutter Pcrr\} was near by when a new island, now known as F^erry Island, was
created, and a year ago still another appeared, at which time the revenue
cutter McCtillnugh was near. I he officers of the latter, as soon as possible,
climbed over the steaming cone and took photographs of it.
Although the sulphur fumes and steam are disagreeable, sea lions and birds
are already making it their home, and the Government during the last days
of Roosevelt's park-making adminislraticn made it a bird reserve.
The red peaks, bare of vegetation, are common, and the dark red ash is
everywhere apparent. I he account given by the Harriman expedition is very
explicit, and another is expected any time from scientific reconnoissance made
made west of Unimak last year.
The Coast Range and Rocky Mountains seem to terminate in a grand
climax of peaks above Cooks Inlet, or unite in the Aleutian Range, which is
more and more submerged until only the very highest appear nearly at the shores
of Japan. Whichever the fact may be, it is very evident that the Aleutian
Mountains are hundreds of years younger and of a decidedly different forma-
tion.
The Coast Range from Mexico to Cooks Inlet consists generally of three
kinds of material, erected in as many distinct epochs.
First. — Following the Silurian and Devonian ages, sediments settled, solidi-
fied and hardened, becoming flexible sandstone, limestone and the like. These
water-made, stratified material form the foundation and lower one-fourth of
the range. 1 hese old rocks are often found doubled, faulted, buckled and
twisted, from which it is concluded that the first step in building these moun-
tains must have been in the pliable age, when a great fold was raised in the
earth's crust where the range now stands. The latter periods of these rocks
bear fossils and signs of living creatures; the older ones do not. They did not
seem to be mineralized, but in later periods seams and pores were sometimes
filled with minerals by intense internal heats, the action of gases, water or
eruptions.
Second. — After the fold had become hardened, and perhaps after many
coal beds had been formed (as they are found pitched up edgewise like the sand
and limestone), it was opened, and through a crack the length of the range,
from the interior was forced, not a sedimentary, but a fire-made (igneous)
rock, much of which is classified or known to the miner and geologist as the
"Greenstones. " They are highly mineralized, and the period was the most
mineral-producing of any, and in this second belt or period the miner expects
to make his "strike.' It occupies the second one-fourth of the bulk of the
mountains.
Third. — At a much later period, and again by internal force, the range
was opeend up and the great diorite granitic cone or center piled high upon
the others, sealing it (excepting volcanoes) forever. This igneous rock com-
poses about half the material of the range, contains little mineral and forms
a hard cap almost irresistible to the elements. This upheaval at least opened
up the seams, exposed the mineral to the elements, and forced it into the softer
and more porous rocks, where frost, ram. snow, glacier river, and at last man
can get it.
If we compare the mountains to a book, then each age will be a leaf,
and when turned back we plainly read in unmistakable records of stone, the
creation and evolution of every creature, from the beginning of land and sea,
animal and vegetable; also of the minerals, upheavals and construction of the
continent.
68
We cannot fully open the pages, but the rains, snows, glaciers, frosts,
rivers and miners have hewn deeply, and the eruptions have broken the lids
and revealed records made thousands of years before the date set as the date
of creation.
Chapter one — "In the beginning the earth was without form and void;"
chapter two and three and so on, until the sediments began to settle, and
then other chapters while they became resisting crusts, pushed up out of the
water, carrying coral, sea grass, shells, and the lowest forms of sea life, etc.
Land and water being separated, the warm muds and slimes bgan to
develop crawling reptiles; as they pushed up higher vegetation began to grow,
and walking animals developed to eat it.
Before this range was formed, the storms, and upheavals gathered the
slimes and tropical vegetation into the sags, then covered them over, preserving
the coal and oil for our use, and the records and pictures for our enlighten-
ment.
The general forms of the prehistoric forests of Alaska were similar to our
ferns and evergreens, but on a larger scale. Could it be possible that the present
dense woods date back to a parent so old?
These mountains present to the student and intelligent miner volumes
information on their upturned stratas.
The growth, or ageing of the range is no less interesting. Just as the
wood of the tree or bones of the man grow dryer, harder and mature, then
age and decay, so the rocks become metamorphosed, shistose and shaley.
The sediments of one age become the limestone of the next and marble
of the next ; the sands of the river and sea become sandstone, and the volcanic
or eruptive intrusives become granite.
Five thousand years ago the present deserts oi Africa, India, and China;
were the centers of the most advanced human habitations and covered with|
fertile fields of grain; they have died with the age.
How many ages we have had, we hardly know, but here m Alaska the
sedimentary age, the age of greenstones, and of the diorite, are plainly shown ;
the coal age, the period of plant life, of reptiles, and of mastodons, and the
glacial period are as unmistakably disclosed.
This is the age that yields to drouth, crystallization and fire; the a^
before it yielded to the ice cap and the floods.
THE NORTHERN COAST.
I he low, bleak, treeless tundra-covered shores of Bering Sea and Arctic
Ocean are but mud banks frozen many feet deep, thawing a few feet in sum-
mer, extending northward and eastward from Bristol Bay for two thousand
miles, quite similar at all places. The Kaiyuh Mountains east of Norton
Sound, and Baird Mountains east of Kotzebu Sound, and occasionally a few
rounded hills rising above the ordinary country, break the even sky line on the
horizon. Miles of beautiful flowers adorn the mosses during the short summer;
at the same time mosquitoes arise to make life miserable for every living thing.
PRIBILOF ISLANDS.
St. Paul, St. George, Walrus, and Otter Islands, with some other rock
points, constitute the group of seal islands in Bering Sea, isolated by about
two hundred miles of water from any other land, free from the Arctic ice pack
and icebergs, and consequently free from the native hunter and polar bear.
About I 700 A. D. a Russian by the name ol Altasov made u.so ol the
fur seal taken on the location of the present seal rookeries on the Asiatic
coast, and later on an extensive fur seal trade was developed in the Antarctic
seas.
69
Sonu- seal wtic taken l)y Sicllcr and I^criiiK cxijeclilion wliilc wrecked on
Bering Island. I 74 I -2. "
Pacov discovered Fox Island, 1759; Glotlov explored Kodiak. 1763;
Krenilain is credited with Alaska Peninsula. I 768. and numerous Russian
traders frequented all parts of these waters then, and the sea otter was already
becoming scarce. 7 he fur seal was seen going spring and fall (like the birds)
through the passes of the Aleutian Islands and, although the ships attempted
to follow, they were never able to locate their destiny any more than they could
find the home of the winds.
The Aleuts, however, knew of the seal islands, which they called "Aleek."
and. with this information. Subov and Pribylov, after several years search,
located them in July, I 786. Pribylov gave them the name of Subov. but
for some reason they later took his own — he died in Sitka, I 796.
The islands were uninhabited by men, although the remams of a recent
fire, a pipe and brass handle of a knife were found on the shore.
In I 787-8 the Russians located some Aleuts on the islands, and from
that time to this they have possessed a population averaging 200, now 263,
and gaining at the rate of three per annum, bearing Russian names, belonging
to the Greek Church, but mostly of Aleut blood.
The seal were almost depleted in 1 796, and the huntmg rights were
leased to the Russian-American Fur Company in I 799, and steps taken to
increase them. An unusually cold winter nearly destroyed them in 1 834.
but they were increased again. In 1 867 they became the property of the United
States, and in 1870 were leased to the Alaska Commercial Company, the
highest bidder (headed by H. M. Hutchinson), for twenty years.
In 1 868, Hutchinson, Ebenezer Morgan and others took a large number,
as the herd was open to all. The followmg year no hunting was allowed
except for food. When Professor Elliott took charge of the islands for the
Government and on behalf of the Smithsonian Institute, there were five million
seal. 1872-6.
The lease to the Alaska Commercial Company, pursuant to the Act of
July I, 1870, limited the kill to 100,000 per year, provided for a rental not
less than $50,000 per year, secured by United States bonds, and for a bond
of a half million from the lessee guaranteeing the terms of the lease. At that
time and since all kinds of laws have been made, regulating the weapons used,
boats, territory, season, sex and age of seals taken, agents, etc., etc., etc., and
the administration of the laws has been booted from one department or com-
mission to another like a football.
The result has been that our own citizens (excepting the lessee) have
been prohibited from sealing; a treaty with England has limited the Canadian
poachers, but all others may take any kind of seal any time and manner or place
outside of the three-mile limit. The Japanese have availed themselves of this
privilege, and, in addition, have violated every law, of God and man. They
raid the rookeries, murder the mothers and pups, regardless of age or sex, and
will soon exterminate the herd, while their government makes no effort to check
them, nor join in the treaty existing humanely between the United States and
England, which could be done any day.
The report to the Sixtieth Congress, 1908, shows only 172.512 seal
of all ages and sex. The limit of the lessee's annual slaughter has been cut
down to 15.000 bachelor seals, and even that number may not be obtained.
A fleet of about thirty Japanese sealing vessels hovers about the islands, and
any mother seal venturing beyond the three-mile limit for food is promptly shot,
while her pup. which no other seal will suckle, starves to death on the shore.
At night time, during fogs, and any other time possible, they come within the
three-mile limit, and even on shore, to kill illegally. They also follow the
70
herd up and down the coast, and at this time. May I st, are near Sitka killing
seal. The seal are due at the breeding ground about two weeks later, and
will produce their young immediately after arriving, so that the slaughter of
every mother now is the death of two. The Japanese and Canadian catch
amounts to about 1 0,000 skins annually each, and the Alaska Commercial
Company (or its successor, the North American Commercial Company,).
1 5,000 m round numbers, according to the number of skins for sale in the
London market. The Jap uses a gun, and three out of ten seal killed are lost,
and numerous others wounded escape to die later. The time is coming when
the seal business must be brought to a close. If foreign countries will not be
humane enough to join in a protecting treaty, and their subjects to abide by it.
then there is no use of our Government employing four revenue cutters annually,
paying $20,000 for support of the natives, and numerous other sums, anci run
the risks of international complications, for the purpose of raising and protecting
seals for other people to kill. Numerous Jap pelagic illegal sealers have been
taken in the very act, some have been released, a few were shot in resisting
capture, and the last bunch of I I 8 we were obliged to haul around to Valdez.
and keep them a long time. They were recently fined by Judge Reid $800
each or 300 days in jail — the latter will be accepted, and they will be hos-
pitably entertained at our expense.
I understand that a treaty was made last year between Russia and Japan,
with reference to sealing on Bering and Copper Islands, across the line. I
hope this is the forerunner to one by all nations, covering all seal islands, and
if it IS not forthcoming, it seems just as humane, and the only protection to
our own property, and the most economical from every standpoint, to take the
skins from the remnant of the herd at once.
The natives now get 75 cents for each skin. At one time they made more
money at 40 cents per skin. The company takes good care of them ; they are
advancing intellectually, have some school privileges, coal to burn, a doctor, and
the climate is agreeable — rarely exceeds ten degrees below zero.
The natives take annually approximately 500 fox skins, from the blue
fox, including one white fox to each hundred blue ones, the profits of which
are about the same as from the seal herd. The fox industry is nicely cared
for, no trouble and little expense, and can be protected. A sea lion is sometimes
captured, but they are shy and not plentiful.
Birds, in season, come in countless numbers, some garden vegetables can
be raised, crab and shellfish are found, and the hair seal could be relied upon
if necessary. The seal herd has eaten or scared the fish away, and the walrus
is practically extinct in the Bering Sea. likewise the sea cow. St. George has
an elevation of 900, and St. Paul 600 feet, with sandy coves convenient
for seal. Walrus and Otter Islands are but rocks, and all are of recent volcanic
construction.
The seal and sea lion are perhaps the most intelligent of animal kind.
as well as the most beautiful. They most resemble a dog. and will obey in
the same manner; they bark somewhat the same, cool themselves by opening
their mouths as dogs do, and have a somewhat similar head, with more intelli-
gent expression. The expense of the fur is largely due to the work in pulling
out the long hairs, clipping and coloring the fur. and tanning the hide. No skin
is of much value without this extensive preparation.
The male seal does not fully mature until it is about seven years old.
when it may weigh 600 pounds and measure as much as seven feet. It then
fights for its harem on the breeding grounds, and. Mormon or I urk-like. main-
tains as many wives as it can keep. It arrives on the islands covered with
fat. and for three months during the breeding season rules over its harem, with
little sleep and no food, except the fat of its own body.
71
I lu- tow seal, mcrk .iiid ohccliciil lo liiT lord; llif ostracised, haremless
bachelor seal doomrd (o slauj^litrr ; tlic lordly fiKhtin^ liarem bull, as ho fl^hts
for his own or steals from another; the innocent, soft-eyed. hlattinK lamblike
pup, and numerous other intereslm^ features of this almost extinct animal.
are so interesting as to make it almost impossible to omit them from this brief
comment. When the first lease expired, it was extended for twenty years
more to the North American Commercial Company. In all the lessees have taken
almost $40. ()()(). ()()() from the islands, and the Government has received enough
to pay a good profit on the amount invested in purchasing Alaska.
ISLANDS OF BERING SEA.
There are numerous small islands around Bristol and Kuskoquim Bays,
and north of the latter are Nunivak and Nelson Islands, both large and inhab-
ited by the Esquimaux. A hundred miles westward are Hall and St. Mathews,
of no value, and a hundred miles north of them is the large island St. Law-
rence, tundra-covered, of volcanic construction, and eighty miles long, visible
from Siberia in clear weather; discovered by Bering. 1728.
Two or three hundred Escjuimaux live here, and in good weather could
reach either Siberia or Alaska. Polar bears land on the island by means of
icebergs, which usually melt soon after entering the warmer waters of the Jap-
anese Current.
The sea lion, a giant furless seal, often weighing a thousand pounds,
may be found here, as well as in numerous other places on the Pacific and
Arctic Coasts, the intestines of which are very valuable to the natives for water-
proof clothing, and the skin for boats. Also the walrus, which is another yet
larger hairless seal, weighing as much as the largest horse or cow. The fur
seal can waddle along at about one mile per hour on land; the sea lion not
half so fast, and the walrus scarcely at all, and they make comparatively the
same difference in swimming. Either of them can float in a somnambulistic siesta
on the surface of the ocean, with as much grace as they can bask in the sun-
shine on the shore, and they can remain a month at sea with no inconvenience.
They usually swim two or three feet beneath the surface, arising at times for
respiration. The oil of the seal, sea lion and walrus constitute the light, fuel,
and a large part of the fat and food needed by the natives of this island.
Their flesh fills the larder, and their skins make the boots, boats, summer houses,
and some of the clothing, and provide thongs and leather for innumerable pur-
poses. The walrus skin is from a half to three inches thick. The animal is
a helpless bundle of blubber, subsisting on clams and seaweed, which it digs
up with its tusks and strong whiskers on the end of its nose.
Sledge Island (so named by Cook because he found a sledge upon it),
near Nome, is important simply because it can be reached from there ; but
King Island has attracted the attention of all who have seen it because a num-
ber of Esquimaux hang their skin houses on its ledges in summer and burrow
into them in winter, from which they watch for animals in the drift of the
surrounding sea. Much has been written about these peculiar people being the
connecting link somehow between the peoples of East and West, but it seems
they are the same as all the other Esquimaux, except that they have changed
their modes of living, building and burial to conform to the rock on which
they live.
The Diomede Islands are of the most importance, inasmuch as they are
mere stepping stones between East Cape of Siberia and Cape Prince of Wales
in Alaska, some of them in Russia and some in Alaska. From these islands
the mainland on either side is plainly in view, and but a pleasure journey for a
small boat, or a day's walk when frozen over. Their inhabitants now. and long
before the advent of white men. were Esquimaux, trading in both continents,
72
and by them the Alaskans went to Siberia and the Siberians to Alaska. On
the Siberian side the Mongolian blood thickens until it reaches China and
Japan; on the American side it thins until it reaches at least to Puget Sound.
There are no islands of importance in the Arctic Ocean belonging to
Alaska ; however, there are some small shore islands or sand spits known as
Flaxman, Barter, Midway, and Thetis Islands, on which whalers or natives
sometimes winter. East of the boundary line is Hershel Island on one side
and Geography Islond on the other side of the Mackenzie River.
Between 1770 and 1860 a stream of explorers, lead by Samuel Hern,
and including such men as Franklin, Beechey, McClintock, McKay, Hood.
Mackenzie and Richardson, came to the Arctic in search of it, of copper or
of Ross and Franklin, and from them we have our earliest reliable informa-
tion concerning the natives.
They usually came from the Hudson Bay or lake regions of Canada,
down the Copper Mine or Mackenzie Rivers. They reported the Esquimaux
from Icy Cape or Point Barrow eastward to be the same people as those on
Hudson Bay and in Labrador, and near of kin to those of Greenland. The
exploration of this part of the Alaska shore is credited to these overland expe-
ditions, and IS but little better known now.
The Northwest Passage, for the discovery of which all maritime nations
strove for three hundred and fifty years, was not successfully navigated (ex-
cepting possibly some whaler) until 1903-7. by Amundsen, in the Gjoa. In
these vain searches several hundred men lost their lives, and as much money
was appropriated as has since been set aside to discover the similarly elusive
poles.
Amundsen found the Franklin Monument, placed by McClintock, 1858,
and some of the supply station left on Beechey Island, 1852, for Franklin,
but Franklin and his brave men were silent in death not many miles away,
after having passed through the coveted passage.
The whole Bering and Arctic tundra-covered coast of Alaska is thawed
enough on the lop in summer to grow moss, breed mosquitoes, and fill the surface
with water; in winter it is bleak, snow-covered, icebound, blizzard-swept, and
at all times it is the most uninviting land lor man or beast. I he land, as a
rule, slopes back gently, with low mud banks along the sea and rivers. The
water, loaded with mud, flows sluggishly to the Bering Sea. which is now
almost filled, so that near the mouths of large rivers boats can not approach
land, and can find anchorage almost anywhere at sea. A few scattered wil-
lows or birch may be found in the sheltered valleys or river banks. otherNvisc
it is a waste of well-rounded, cheerless, treeless hills, interrupted by the Nush-
egak Mountains back of Kuskoquim Bay; Kusilvak, Chantinak, Kaiyuth. and
Kaltag Mountains back of Norton Sound; Hooper Mountains behind Point
Barrow, and Franklin and Romianl/ov Mountains inshore from Maxman Island,
and Pelly Mountains behind Pelly Bay. These mountains, or hills, as a rule,
rise to a climax at about 1,500 feet, back from the coast twenty-five to one
hundred and fifty miles, and somewhat mark the boundary of the tundra land?
inhabited by the Esquimaux.
After the search for the Northwest Passage, Ross and I-ranklin discon-
tinued, the country north of the ^'ukon was abandoned by the white man.
and for the most part is now unknown. The natives are few, whale are scarce,
and thus far the country beyond I eller is poor in mineral.
The district southward of the ^ ukon. particularly along the shore and
rivers, was the trapping ground of the Russian-American Fur Company until
the United States purchased Alaska, but their discoveries were rarely pub-
73
Iishi'd; liowcvcr, the remains of missions, trading stores, block houses and the
like, may still he seen along the \ ukon to lorl Yukon, along the Kuskoquim
to Kolmakofski, on ihc Nushegak. Lake Iliamna and small rivers.
11 li: NOKIHWKSr PASSAGE.
I he discovery of this contiiuiil, and breaking u|) of the narrow, bigoted,
Arristottolian ideas was due to the search for a shorter route to the Orient.
Thus at the same time was a new land, and more freedom of thought presented
to those who had the courage to dare the sea or church.
Columbus, 1492; John Cabot, 1497; his son later, then C ortereal, then
Frobisher, 1576; then Drake; after him Davis, 1585-8; then Hundon, 1617-
10; Button. 1612; James Hall, 1612; and, 1615. Baffin; Fox. 1631;
Ross and Parry, 1818-29 (Ross located the magnetic pole substantially as
known now) ; then, overland from Hudson Bay and Central Canada, went
Hearne. 1770; Franklin. Beechey. McKay. Hood. Mackenzie, Richardson,
and others, and after these the lamentable Franklin expedition by sea, all seek-
ing a waterway to the westward.
The prominent features of the land and sea bear the names of these ex-
plorers from Teller, Alaska, eastward, and that part of the world is but little
better known now. What they failed to accomplish was successfully carried
out by Amundsen, 1903-7, in the Gejoa. in that he brought his ship through
the "Northwest Passage," and camped about two years within a hundred miles
of the magnetic pole, and walked all around and perhaps over it. The fact
that the pole bobs about a little and cannot be fixed at any one spot, and that
the compass refuses to work, is nothing new. and but little knowledge of scien-
tific value was added by his sojourn. Why not place a magnetic station at or
near the north and south magnetic poles at the same time, to determine their
relations, which would at least lend aid for the solution of other questions?
Leffingwell and Mikkelsen are now attempting to thoroughly explore and
map the northeast coasts of Alaska. The former will leave Seattle some time
this month (May, 1909) in the Argo. and Amundsen will also visit that
country again. Only that part of the country immediately on the coast has
been correctly mapped, and some of the large rivers have never been explored.
When Heme, in 1770; Mackenzie, 1789; Franklin. 1819-27, and others
first penetrated the unknown Arctic shores, they found the Indians, who had
never seen white men, living in polygamy, adultery, incest and the lowest
kinds of immorality; cases of infanticide, witchery, cannibalism and murder
were reported. Instruments and weapons were of stone, bone, copper, ivory,
and wood. Wives were talJen and discarded at pleasure. It was common
practice to engage in a friendly wrestling bout, the winner to take the woman.
Their religion, if they had any, was vague, although they had stories of creation
and the flood, somewhat similar to our own. handed down as very ancient
traditions; likewise a tradition that their ancestors came from the westward.
Along the Arctic Ocean Esquimaux, well mixed with Mongolian blood,
were found. They had never seen white men, and were as immoral as the
Indians, but more charitable, good-natured, content, and friendly, although
inclined to steal and lie. They belonged to the same stock as the Greenland,
Labrador and Siberian natives, speaking dialects of the same parent language.
Their snow igloos in winter and skin tupecks in summer were the same as of all
exquimaux living in the treeless regions, and the same as the white man now
makes when he goes into that country. The smallest piece of wood is rarely
found beyond Herschell, where the last house of wood is seen. Implements
for the house and chase were of ivory, stone, copper, horn, shell, and such
material as nature afforded. Fire was made by rubbing wood together, and seal.
74
whale, and walrus afforded not only the light, cooking fats, and fuel, but
their bones made supports for houses and boats, implements for hunting and
defense, oranments and sleds. Their skins were useful as tent coverings, boats,
boots, rope thongs, dog harness and the like; the intestines for oil and water
bottles and waterproof clothing. Castaway bones, and skin boots and clothing
were often required to sustain life when food could not be obtained. They
faced death as stoically as their Mongolian ancestor, and their religion was
a matter of philosophy much the same, scarcely arising to the observable status
of a known belief, the most noticeable feature being the fear of evil spirits, ill-
omen, the sick, dead, and the avoiding of certain locations believed to bring
them ill luck or death. They erected special abodes for those abandoned to
die, and never returned to them; those dying in their own houses were allowed
to remain there unmolested until the wild beasts or summer sun destroyed
them. At Herschell they place the dead in a box, which sits on top of the
frozen ground. The men, particularly on the Siberian side, wore glass beads
in their ears, and the women were tatooed. Labrettes or metal and stone or
ivory ornaments were sometimes worn in the lips, similar to the Siwash Indians
on the Pacific Coast. Meat was sometimes cooked slightly, but more often
eaten raw; also other foods. The difficulty of heating stones with the moss
and heather fires, or seal oil, for the purpose of throwing them in skins of
water to boil food, or upon which to roast meat, was so difficult that it was
necessary to have epicurean tastes that would conform to the conveniences of
the land. At the present time some articles of clothing, food, cooking utensils
and firearms are obtained from the whites, and occasionally lumber and tents
are used for dwellings, and a school teacher or missionary injects a little edu-
cation, and a miner or whaler a little more bad whisky, but on the whole the
natives north of Teller are but little changed since the first visit of white men.
Hearne came down the Copper Mine River to the ocean, I 770. and look
possession for the Hudson Bay Company (England), and Alexander Mackenzie
down the river that bears his name to the ocean, I 789, but neither explored
the shores. After them came Franklin and Beechey, who made the first notes
on these shores, but the notes of Franklin, made 1825, were checked over
by Thomas Simpson, of the Hudson Bay Company, 1836-9, from Boat Ex-
tension to Return Reef and from Return Reef to the Mackenzie, and it was he
that named all the capes, rivers, bays, etc.. between Return Reef and Point
Barrow; he also named the Franklinand Pelly Mountains. Jones Islands. Cole-
ville, Gary, and Smith Rivers. St. Clair and McKay Rivers are named for
two of his guides; Cape Simpson is in honor of his uncle, the Governor. Dease
Inlet was named in honor of Mr. Dease. his companion, and McKenzie Bay
in honor of a member of the fur company (not the explorer.) Fie took pos-
session of Point Barrow and raised the British flag in the name of the king.
These explorations completed the link between the two oceans along the North-
west Passage, uniting with those of Cook and Clark and Kotzebue from the
Pacific. De Fuca lead the search for the Northwest Passage from the Pacific
side in 1592. (The stories of Maldonado. 1588. arc said to be pure fabrica-
tions. See "A Chronology of History of Voyages Into the Arctic Regions
for the Purpose of Discovery of Northwest Passage, by John Barrow, of Lon-
don, 1818.") Many other navigators followed, but to James Cook is due
the credit of exploration to Icy Cape, followed later by Clark and K.olzcbur
from the west. August 9th. I 779, Cook arrived at and named Cap Prince
of Wales; then he crossed to Siberia, where the natives politely made low.
sweeping bows to him; then back to Alaska at Pt. Mulgrave, and from there
75
lo Icy Cape; llu'ii hack lo Cape Lisburno; then across to Cape North, on the
Siberian side, and returning to Norton Sound (all of which j)oints he named) ;
thence southward lo the Sandwich Islands, where Ins useful life was shortly
afterward taken by the natives.
I he Siberian Kscjuimaux, or ( huckchees. had trade relations and wars
with the natives of Alaska, the beginning of which is not known, and the news
of the new world had found its way to St. Petersburg long before Alaska
was discovered. Perhaps a Polish seannan. Dejenev, should have the honor of
discovering first the Arctic shores of Alaska, 1 648. However, historians seem
to have omitted him. But Peter the Great had acquired Kamtchatka and
desired a northern waterway along the north coast of Asia to his possession.
to find which repeated efforts were made from the northern rivers and seas of
Asia, all of which failed. Then Bering was instructed. 1 728. to attempt the
discovery of such passage from the west, and, although he passed through
Bering Straits and must have been close to Alaska, he made no report of it.
For three hundred and fifty years the maritime powers of the earth sought
the Northwest Passage. Fortunes were spent, hundreds of men perished, and
numerous ships were losi, but the most pathetic story is the loss of Sir John
Franklin.
His overland trip and tin. death ol Hood has no parallel on land; neither
does his voyage at sea. In 1828 he married a second wife, Jane Griffin; the
next year he was knighted by Kuig George the Fourth ; then he saw valuable
service in the British navy ; he was then made Governor of Van Diemans Land ;
returning in 1845, he headed an expedition in the Erebus and Terror to dis-
cover the Northwest Passage, although sixty years old. Captain Crozier was
second in command; 134 men made up the party; they carried both sails and
coal, and modern equipment for the time. They were seen in Melville Bay,
July 26th, by a whaler, lor the last time, frozen fast in the ice. The vessels
ultimately pushed through to Beechey Island, on the north side of which they
wintered, 1 845-6. For two years following nothing was heard, and many
expeditions were in search for them from England, Canada and the United
States, and fifteen more followed in the next six years. McClure entered the
Arctic from the west, was shipwrecked, and rescued by an expedition from
the east, and was the first to cross from ocean to ocean in the Arctics, re-
ceiving a reward of ten thousand pounds. Lady Franklin, at her own expense,
equipped an expedition headed by Forsyth, who returned and reported that
Franklin had wintered on Beechey Island, which aroused fresh hopes, and
she followed it up unsuccessfully with a second and third expedition. Then
the English government sent a big expedition under Kellet, McClintock, and
Osborn, which was lost, but the crew was saved. Then Kane tried it. and
others. But Dr. John Rae. 1854. overland from Canada, obtained informa-
tion that about forty of the Franklin expedition had been seen by Pelly Bay
Esquimaux, and a renewed effort, with more hopes, was made by the widow and
friends, headed by McClintock. 1857. In 1859. in Bootha Feelix Land, he
obtained relics and information to prove the death of all the men. A record
was found near Cape Herschell, on King William Land, telling of a sledge
trip of seven of the men, and of the wintering on Beechey Island ; it was dated
May 28th, 1847. This record was later supplemented. April. 1848. by
others of the party, saying that the ships had been abandoned on the 22nd.
having been in the ice since September 12th. 1846; that 105 of the crew
were alive, under Crozier; that Franklin had died June 1 I th. 1847. and that
they would start for Backs Fish River April 26th. 1848. Subsequently from
time to time remnants of the wreck have been found. In I 906 the Esquimaux
informed Amundsen of the location of one of the boats, or where it was de-
stroyed. Lady Franklin herself went as far as Sitka. Stories of her sorrow
76
are still told, and the old Russian furniture, pegged together with wood, in the
rooms where she lived, are now in use, or at least we were informed last year
that we were sleeping in Lady Franklin's bed.
THE SCHEME OF THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH
COMPANY.
The Alaska shore south of Cape Prince of Wales, and the Yukon to
Fort Selkirk, were as thoroughly explored and better mapped by the agents of
the Western Union Telegraph Company than that part of the shore north of
Cape Prince of Wales was by those who sought the Northwest Passage, or
the lost expedition of Franklin and Ross.
Standing on the Diomede Islands, one may look over to Asia on one side
and America on the other. The strait is narrow and the water is shallow.
The Western Union Telegraph Compan conceived the idea to connect
the old and new world by wire, and during 1 865-6-7 had large parties of men
surveying and reconnoitering in the wilds of both. On the Siberian side it
proposed to start at Irkutsk (to which a line already extended) ; thence along
the Amoor, Kamchatka and Anadyr Rivers to Anadyr Gulf, or Penti Gulf.
On the American side a line was already established to or near Cariboo, British
Columbia, from which it was to extend northward up the Eraser and down
the Yukon to Nulato; thence across to Norton Sound and ending at Port
Clarence. A cable was to connect the two across Bering Strait.
Many men were employed and much work done. To this day their
marks are plainly seen, the knowledge of the country and natives was
preserved by the Smithsonian Institute, printed in the papers of the whole
world. The books by Wymper and Dall are even now the best early authentic
information existing. This knowledge of the country, indirectly, at least,
was one of the largest factors inducing Seward and Congress to purchase
Alaska.
The company doubted the success of Fields Atlantic Cable, just as many
doubted the utility of the wireless a year or two ago, but its success was soon
proven, causing the company to abandon its scheme, about the same time
Seward purchased Alaska.
Captain Beechey extended his exploration to Port Clarence, 1827. .At
that time the natives were freely trading with the Chukchis, of Siberia, as
they were during the busy days of the telegraph company thirty years later,
and as they are now. There can be no question about the near blood relation
of the people of the two continents at this point, and it would have been appropo
to unite the continents by wire here. Wireless now communicates from boat
to boat and with Alaska shore stations throughout the North and will soon
spread to Asia. Railroad building is feasible and profitable in Alaska, and
may yet extend across the Bering Strait by car ferry and provide an overland
route from New York to Paris.
ORIGIN AND EXTEN r OF THE ESQUIMAUX.
It has not yet been settled whether the Alaska Esquimaux came I mm
Asia or the Siberian from Alaska, but it can not be disputed that they ^anie
from the same original ancestors. It is also an irrefutable fact that the Esqui
maux is either of Mongolian parentage, or in very early limes became lhorou«hly
mixed with the Mongolian people. The former seems most probable.
The genial, contented disposition of the race suggests Norwegian l)lood.
but the predominating Mongolian features, color, customs, traditions, stoical,
philosophical religious indifference, overshadows and breaks down in the mind
of almost every investigator all the ancestral theories e.\cept the Mongolian.
77
This Mongolian Kscjumiaux Mood cxlonds down the Asiatic coast to China
and Japan and along Northern Siberia. On the Alaskan side it extends from
Greenland to the very end of the Aleutian Islands, which is in sight of the smoke
of the steamers of Japan, and also along the Pacific Coast on the west side of
the mountains as far south as Seattle at least. I'he whole [)oi)ulation of Indians
and Esquimaux in America containing Mongolian blood docs not exceed 50.000.
I he same rate of decrease applies to Siwash. Aleut and F,sf)uimaux wherever
the trader, miner and whaler, with their vice, disease and whisky, can reach
them. In their Northern home their whole lives were devoted to a food-struggle
for existence; the fish, game, seal, whale, and walrus, upon which they depended,
have, by the white man. been almost exterminated. At Herschell and Point
Barrow, where once villages of 500 healthy, pure-blooded natives lived, now
a half hundred syphilitic mixed bloods mingle with as many whalers each
winter. A similar condition of affairs prevailed in Western Alaska during a
hundred years of Russian supremacy -a most lamentable thing to say a^out
our boasted civilization and Christianity.
Of these people Wymper (page 249). who lived among them on both
continents, concludes they are of Mongolian origin; Markham. that they are of
Tartar descent; Arctic Miscellanies, that they are Mongolians driven north-
ward by a more powerful Tartar race; Henry W. Elliott's Report, 1875. of
natives on St. Lawrence, says, "They strongly resemble Chinese;" A. W.
Greeley, 1885, says there is no question but the natives of the two continents
had trade relations back in the Sixteenth century; Sessions (page 103) says,
"They do not look like our North American Indians, but many ot them look
like Mongolians;" Arctic Provinces, by Elliott. "They strongly remind us of
Japanese faces and forms;" Retzius and Humboldt find the Pacific Coast
Indians related to the Mongols; Dr. Sheldon Jackson, for many years among
them, said. "In mental traits, artistic ideas, and methods of labor, they are
singularly like the Mongolian Japanese;" Catlin says the same; Spurr. 1896.
says, "They are wonderfully dilTeient from those on the Yukon form Nulato
to its headwaters, being round and rosy, rather small in stature, and with a
certain Mongolian appearance (page 260). And thus I could continue to name
authors of similar opinion, but the most convincing argument is that even per-
sons like myself, who frequently see Chinese. Japs. Aleuts, Siwash and Esqui-
maux, are often unable to distinguish them. It is not unusual to find Esquimaux
having every appearance of a full-blood Jap. In Alaska these people inhabit
the tundra belt. They are found twenty miles up the Copper Mine River, on
the Mackenzie as far as the Peel, on the Yukon to Nulato, on the Kuskoquim
to Kolmakofsky. The Russians carried them farther inland, and the Ameri-
cans mixed them more. In the treeless and woodless country they built their
houses of snow in winter and skins in summer, and buried their dead in skins
covered with stones or left them in their abodes sealed to shut out wild animals.
In the wooded country or on shores where wood could be found, they built
houses of it, and buried their dead in boxes covered \\ith stones or dirt, or erected
upon poles to protect them from dogs and wild animals, as they did their food
stores. Everywhere they followed their game food from place to place in season,
and more than half the Aleutian barabaras. Siberian topecks. and .Alaskan
igloos found are unoccupied save for a few days each year, if at all. Now. as
in early years, one may travel the rivers within their territory and find but a few
families on each, with three or four exceptions. Ornaments may be found
in the nose. cars, lips and elsewhere on the men; anklets, bracelets, tatoos upon
the women.
They carve Oriental figures, Chinese idols, and money of very ancient
dates have been found buried centuries ago by them, showing conclusively that
78
79
they were Irorn ihat country or had communicalion of some kind with it hun-
dreds of years before discovered by whiles. The small race living nearest to
the pole, as described by Perry, are almost, if not altogether, pure Mongolian.
1 he similarity of the hieroglyphics from ( haldea traced northward through
Asia, then through the l",s()uim;)ux. Pacific (oast Indians, and down to the
origmal |X'opies of Mexico and South America, has lead several archaeologists
to say that this was the route over which came the first inhabitants of America,
and that the people of Mongolian blood in Alaska and along the Pacific Coast
■are the remnant of that people. The argument is believable and convincing,
and proofs of which are too numerous to set forth in this small book of con-
clusions. I have been accumulating facts for several years on these questions,
the whole ol which will be given in an extensive history of Alaska to be pub-
lished in about three years from this time.
A comparison of the names of towns in C hina, Japan, and all Esquimaux
and Aleut countries will reveal a marvelous similarity, and the names of towns
of the Siwash and Athabascan will be as marvelously dissimilar.
The table on page 88 may not be a satisfactory test, as some words are not
common to all the languages; others may have a broader or narrower meaning;
none of them are phonetically or diacritically marked, and the number of words
should not be less than a hundred. However, it will serve to convince any one
that the Greenland. American, Asiatic, Esquimaux and Alaskan Aleut derive
their dialects from a common ancestral language, and that the Japanese language
is so similar in many ways that we are justified in concluding that at some period
the parent language was the same or closely associated. I am fully convinced
that a comparison of dialects from Bering Strait to Japan, and a careful research
along the Coast, would corroborate my statement.
The table on page 88 will also show that the ^ ukon Indians have a lan-
guage in nowise related to the others, and that the Haidah (or Siwash) are as
distinctly separate.
The fact that the Siwash has the face and features of a Mongolian and
Esquimaux more than of any other human being, and yet has no similarity in
speech, makes it more difficult to place his ancestry.
A Negro in Africa, and another in America having a common parent, or
a Japanese in Japan and another in Alaska having been born in the same house-
hold, but acquiring from the beginning different languages, which is often and
can easily have been the case many times, will be an illustration of how language
may fail to disclose ancestry. Several cases of lost or shipwrecked Japanese
have been reported, where they have drifted entirely across the Pacific, in one
of which almost a hundred years ago, a Japanese junk landed near Puget Sound.
In such cases the blood could become mixed without the language becoming
apparent.
AURORA BOREALIS IN ALASKA.
Polar Auroras are of two spheres, those ol the north, known as Aurora
Borealis, and of the south as Aurora Australis. I will refer to those of the
north only.
The Aurora has been classified and subdivided by many, but after all it
is but a matter of degree or extent.
For practical purposes it may be divided, first including those extending
far south and manifesting more magnetic and electric force; and last, those of
less height, more local and producing little or no magnetic or electrical dis-
turbances.
Almost a hundred authors have written as many different theories as to
what the Auroras are and their cause, etc., including:
80
First — Divine. They have frightened the human race for all ages, and
history is full of ghost-like tales.
Second — Polar ice radiating at night, the light absorbed during the day.
(Disproven by the polariscope, showing that they are direct and not reflected
rays. )
Third — The movement ol polar ice upon which the sun reflected. (Also
disproven. )
Fourth — Phossophoriscent light.
Fifth — Luminous gases.
Sixth — Foggy weather near the poles.
Seventh — Same as sun halos. (Refuted by polariscope.)
Eighth — Caused by sun-spots. (This theory has many more advocates
than most of the others, although the Auroras have occurred so adversely to the
sun-spots some years that they seem to prove no reliable cause.)
Ninth — Magnetic forces. To which many tenable reasons can be as
signed, such as the effect upon the magnetic needle: the origin or home of the
Auroras being generally in the vicinity of the magnetic pole (westerly side ol
Smith Straits and north of Bafflns Bay, as first located, or 96 degrees west of
Greenwich and 70 degrees north latitude on Boothia Felix Land, as fixed by
Amundsen, 1906).
Tenth — Foreign neobula or meteoric substance coming into our atmos-
phere, being magnetized, electrified, or illuminated. (A moment's thought by
any student will cnoclusively disprove such theory.)
Eleventh — Light from other and far distant planets.
Twelfih — Light upon cirius or snow clouds in very high altitude.
Thirteenth — Electricity, (of which many actions of the Aurora remind
the observer) , has many modern-day advocates.
1 o all who have watched the Aurora generally appearing from and re-
tiring to the vicinty of the magnetic pole; moving the magnetic needle (to my
knowledge as much as ten degrees in one instance) ; disturbing telegraph, tele-
phone, cable and wireless, as well as other magnetized or electrified apparatus,
the theory that the Aurora is closely connected with electricity and magnetism
will be accepted.
Only the great Auroras extend far south, and the magnetic and electric
force is more noticeable (possible, however, because we have more instruments
to affect and men to report), than in the Alaskan country.
The magnificent Auroras of 1859 and 1872 are the only ones on record
to my knowledge that seemed to extend from pole to pole, and actually covered
the whole earth.
As a rule they are seen but about once in Gulf of Mexico, five times in
San Francisco and ten in Dakota per year, while east of the mountains of Alaska
and the Arctic Sea they are observed about 100 limes annually.
Whalers and Arctic explorers have reported them still more frequent
nearer the magnetic pole.
Ihe Alaskan Pacific Coast and Aleutian Islands are so continually clouded
over that the Auroras are infrequently seen there.
Explorers in the far north, above the magnetic pole, report the Auroras
as coming from the south. Others wintering near the magnetic pole report them
as being so low as to have been observed shining under the clouds, and as ap-
pearing from various points of the compass.
Frequently the clear Alaskan night reveals a sight that fills the ob.iervcr
with awe. We know the warming, cheerful effect of the sun, the fright and fear
of the storm and lightning, the amazement of the mirage, the dread of the vol-
cano and earthquake, and even of the moons silent influence.
81
But tlu- Alaskan Aurora brings forth the genuine goose-pimplc. hair-raising,
reverential feeling that all other phenomena connbined can not produce.
Clouds of light, waves of light, oceans of light, ripples, flames, darts,
chains, snakes, and halos of light; ultra-violet, whitish-yellow, green, purple,
and flame-ligc light.
Light that enables you to read at night, dims the the stars, threatens to fire
the earth, the heavens, and to stick its darts of lightning into you.
You can see battles as it advances and retreats. You think of Milton's
Paradise Lost, Dante's Inferno and the threats of dire and awful punishment
of the wicked as pictured to you by the old testament or expounded by some
out-of-date, self-made preacher. If to all these the light and beauty of the
Glorified Throne as seen or related by John the Revelator could be added, then
the scene could hardly excel the actual sight of one of these Great Auroras, made
greater, grander and more effective by the long night, lonesome camp, frost-
locked and silent environments of this Arctic-like land, Alaska.
As you look with open-mouthed awe, every <"'p<"^ is so alert that you hear
its electric spark snap (or think you do), feel 's liirusts of lightning (or think
you do). Then it disappears (or you t'liiiK it does), but instantly it comes
again, until by the indescribable panoramic fire, one is hypnotized almost into
ar.lnc; existence.
While Mr. Hall was wintering in Frobisher Bay, near the magnetic pole,
he witnessed an Aurora which he describes in his "Arctic Researches" as
follows :
"Then I tried to picture the scene before me. Piles of golden light and
rainbow light, scattered along the azure vault, extended from behind the western
horizon to the zenith ; thence down to the eastern, within a belt of space 20
degrees of width, with fountains of beams, like fire threads, that shot with the
lapidity of lightning hither and thither, upward and athwart the great pathway
indicated. No sun, no moon, yet the heavens were a glorious sight, flooded
with light. Even ordinary print could have been easily read on the deck.
Flooded with rivers of light. Yes. flooded with light. And such light! Light
all but inconceivable. The golden hues predominated. But in rapid succession
prismatic colors leaped forth. We looked, we saw, and trembled ; for. even as
we gazed, the whole belt of the Aurora began to be alive with flames. Then
each pile or bank of light became myriads ; some now dropping down the great
pathway or belt, others springing up, others leaping with lightning flash from
one side, while more as quickly passed into the vacated space; some, twisting
themselves into folds, entwining with others like enormous serpents, and all these
movements as quick as the eye could follow. It seemed as if there was a struggle
with these heavenly lights to reach and occupy the dome above our heads. Then
the whole arch above became crowded. Down, down it came ; nearer and
nearer it approached us. Sheets of golden flame, coruscating while leaping from
the Auroral belt, seemed as if met in their course by some mighty agency that
turned them into the colors of the rainbow, each of the seven primary, three de-
grees in width, sheeted out to twenty-one degrees; the prismatic bows at right
angles with the belt. While the Auroral fires seemed to be descending upon us.
one of our number could not help exclaiming, 'Hark! Hark! Such a display!
Almost as if a warfare was going on among the beautious lights above — so pal-
pable, so near — seems impossible without noise.' But no noise accompanied this
wonderous display. All was silence."
And again Mr. Hall says:
"But the northern lights, in their eternally shifting liveliness, flame over
the heavens each day and each night. Look at them ; drink oblivion and drink
hope from them ; they are even as the aspiring soul of man — restless as it.
82
"They will wreathe the whole vault of heaven with their glittering, fleeting
light, surpassing all else in their wild loveliness, fairer than even the blush of
dawn, but whirling idly through empty space they bear no message of a com-
ing day.
"The sailor stears his course by star. Could you but concentrate yourselves,
you, too, O Northern Lights ! might lend your aid to guide the bewildered wan-
derer. But dance on and let me enjoy you. Stretch a bridge across the gulf
between the present and the time to come, and let me dream far, far ahead into
the future.
Oh thou mysterious radiance! What are thou and whence comest thou?
\ et why ask? Is it not enough to admire thy beauty and pause there? Can we
at best get beyond the outward show of things? What would it profit even if
we could say, that it is an electric discharge or current of electricity through
upper regions of air, and able to describe in minutest detail how it all came about,
it would be mere words. We know no more what the electric current really is.
than what the Aurora Borealis is. And happy is the child. * ^ ^ '^e
with all our views and theories are not in the last analyses a hair's breadth nearer
the truth than it."
Although this is Mr. Hall's statement a half century ago, so far as the
Aurora is concerned, it could be made now.
In the land of Seward, every Alaskan who remains over winter witnesses
the long night, the midnight sun, the clear air, the frost/ stillness, the peculiar
moon and that awful monotonous loneliness and if he returns with unimpaired rea-
son will corroborate what I have said about the Alaskan Aurora and add that no
pen can fully and justly describe it, nor can any artist but the God of the Uni-
verse paint such a picture.
The Aurora is not the only awe-producing phenomena of Alaska. 1 he
Creator of the long night provided a great silver moon, and a big red sun three
or four times larger than they are down in the States and seemingly so close that
one is almost afraid.
The feeling that enrobes one while a death-like silence pervades every-
thing in a lonely land, and the thermometer registers sixty below or the mercury
is frozen, can be experienced, but not told.
83
84
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHS .
Wire telegraph and telephone lines are few and ot a short or local kind ;
the cable extends only along the Pacific; mail, on the river boats in summer and
over the long trails in winte, is often delayed for weeks, and Alaska remains
connected to the outside world by the rapidly spreading wireless telegraphy.
The government has been very negligent in many respects concerning
Alaska, but in respect to the wireless, it has been diligent in reaching remote
corners far ahead of private means of communication of a like kind, so that
powerful transmitting stations are fixed at Nome, Ft. Gibbons, Circle, Eagle.
Chena, St. Michael, on the interior, and at many points on the coast. This
service supplemented with the overland wire from Valde/. and the cable, as
well as an overland wire through Canada, gives inestimable aid to a winter-im-
prisoned people. The abreviated press dispatches in midwinter are very welcome
indeed. The breaking of ice on the rivers and sea. shortage of provisions, orders
for machinery, and all matters of haste may be dispatched to the coast by
wireless.
The signal corps men have undergone all the tortures known to Arctic
winters at 35 cents per day while erecting and maintaining the land wires so
necessary in the outset.
The established land wires now begin at Valdez, running to Gulkana
where one branch goes northeast to Eagle and the other northwest to Chena :
thence down the Tanana and Yukon to St. Michael.
The wireless apparatus, as it becomes more perfect and is increased in
power, reaches farther so that now messages are frequently intercepted over two
tiiousand miles from the transmitter.
Night IS better than day, and \vinter beter than summer lor wireless com-
munication, therefore Alaska is abundantly supplied with the natural aids.
A number of aid stations are being prefected on the interior of Alaska, and
a more powerful station at Valdez. When the entire scheme has been carried
out, government and private business may be carried on at all limes by the
world with Alaska by wireless.
The wireless link with the outside world will be an assurance ol communi-
cation, as at no time could it be expected that the Canadian land line, the Paciiu
cable line and the Wireless would be out of service at the same time.
The expense in erecting and keeping in repair long lines of land wire throUj;!i
an uninhabited country, the awful exposure, and the delay in case of bre.^ks
will be avoided by the wireless.
The thanks, congratulations and admirations ol the world arc due to the
men doing the work and the department having it in charge.
The patronage pays well for the investment, but as the country justihvs,
the United Wireless follows with its system and the government generously tur'is
over the paying private business to it. 1 he United Wireless Company lias its
instruments on land along the coast and on ships at sea. At the present time
almost every boat on the ocean, engaged in Alaska trade, is equipt wi»h
wireless.
85
SEWAKI) PENINSULA.
I.vcry one inleresled in this peninsula should obtain a copy of E. H.
1 larrison's Nome and Seward I'eninsula. which is the best publication existing
( oncerning the vicinty of Nome.
First, the Russian traders and missionaries, then the whalers, followed by
the Western Union Telegraph Company, broke the unnumbered, undisturbed
and unimportant years of monotonous I'.squimaux possession of Seward I-*eninsula.
There were small native settlements here and there at the most protected points,
but nothing extraordinary happened until September, 1 898, when E. O. Lind-
blom, John Byrnteson and Jafet Lindberg discovered gold in paying quantities
on Anvil Creek, a dozen miles back of Nome. I he whole world had the gold
fever because of the fabulously rich strikes in the Klondike, and the reports of
this discovery caused the rush of Skaguay, Valdez and Dawson to be repeated
or excelled at Nome in 1 900, when it arose from a pile of ice to a tent city
of twenty thousand unorganized, bewhiskered stampeders.
Although Nome has no harbor, yet the ocean commerce of that port from
June to October is tremendous. Gold has been found in the sea, on the shore,
in the creek beds, on the benches and everywhere.
More claim jumping, bribery, and perjury occurred around this camp than
any other of the kind in the history of the world. The court records, involv-
ing clients, attorneys, judges, marshalls and receivers, present the blackest picture
in the history of the common law.
Few of the wrongdoers received legal punishment, but many forfeited their
lives, or gambled their ill-gained fortunes away, and it is seriously hoped that
the others will purchase nothing but misfortune with theirs. A very large per
cent of those having courage enough to face danger and death in search of
claims were Scandinavians, than whom there are no more honest and hard work-
ing people on the face of the earth, nor are there any who so feebly defend their
own rights. These were usually the victims. Their only shame is that some of
their own race helped to rob them. The combmed flames of Hadeas would not
be hot enough for a just punishment to the human devil who robbed or attempted
to rob an honest, hard-working, good-natured Swede. Jack London and Rex
Beach may exaggerate some features of Alaska, but they could not do this one
justice. The list of disgraced and discharged officers, court records and informa-
tion of clients and friends, convinces me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am
not overstating the case. The Guggenheims may pay less than some of their is
worth, but they can feel proud that they did not steal any of it or cover the court
records with perjury for it, as has been charged to some others.
Enough gold has been taken from Anvil Creek alone to repay the purchase
price of Alaska, and every year enough is taken from this peninsula to repay
the purchase price of Alaska. In all approximately fifty millions of dollars in
gold has been taken out, and but a scratch has been made. Some of the most
valuable mines were discovered in the least expected places, and so in the future
any one may find millions under the water-soaked tundra. The gold is practically
all placer. The future will reveal its mother lode. It contains a very little sil-
ver. Some soft coal is found, and prospects of tin at York and Teller. Cape
Mountain and Ear Mountain are granite intrusions, in which tin has been located,
and if the tin locations depend on similar formations they will be confined to
these mountains for the reason that such intrusions are very infrequent here;
however, the geological agents of the government advise a further search in the
slates. Perhaps a hundred thousand dollars \vorth of tin has been mined and
the prospects are now fair for American tin.
Along the beach are a number of villages consisting of a half dozen shacks,
and a mission (and at one time a native town hall), including Shishmaref, i ork,
86
\f
ALASKA Lkm; I-KAM
I ellei, Tin City, Cheenik, Bluff, Dickson, and, inland. Council C ity, C andle
City, D?hl, Noxapaga, Hot Springs, Igloo and a large number of mining
camps. Many of these places are numerously populated in the active season.
Nome iias about five thousand in winter and ten thousand population in summer,
i here are many gigantic undertakings in this district. In 1902-3 the
Co'. r.cil City & Solomon River Railway, and Seward Peninsula Railway were
commenced. The former, starting at Nome, has been e.xtended to Lamb's Land-
ing, about seventy miles, and the latter up Solomon River, half that distance.
Ditches, almost as long, carrying water over divides, around mountains,
from one stream to another, wind like threads all over the land and furnish the
greatest assistance for procuring the gold. Titanic steam shovels, dredges and
hydraulic lifts, horse scrapers, common sluice boxes, long toms, rockers and hand
panning add their share. In winter, during the long night, light and water is
not needed by those burrowing deep into the earth by a process of fire thawing or
steam thawing, and the dirt is piled high at the mouth of the tunnel or shaft, to
be washed with the first available water in the spring.
Mil •.MCI ri' SIX .\v .\<i.Mi-;
87
The following comparison ol native dialects will be of some help
tracing the Mongolian, Esquimaux and Indian:
1
\\.:u-a:i
Wa.iua
Se
Si
Mill-gee
Walakii>lii
III-
Ouna
rna
Ecossee
Te-tiiM
La
AiM-otoko
We
Wiii-^riit
r-ajrul
Seyr
Nakii-hun
Voll
Illrpil
U.let
She
Spit
l>ale-n
Aliata
M:iii
lllllcl
An^ut
Tenolo
Tin-ji
K-thii-ca
Otiiko
Woin:iIi
AclKiniik
Arnak
Salturn
1 Tin-jah
Tar-link
Dja-ata
Onna
Day
Alil.Mik
rt,)lk
K'lut
Drin
Sen
Mi
Sun
Sicknnynk
Sckkink
S'o
1 Drinnszih
Shi nor
I)zi(IIg-t>e
Water
Iniuk
Iniek
Too
Chnn
Mnka-muk
Cand-l
Mizn
Snow
Kaiiik
Kaniik
Xootaga
Zah
Madem
Viiki
Ice
Seko
Sikko
T'nn
T"nui
Gal
Kori
IIcii.l
Neaknk
l\iakuk
Se-woiyer
Ti-chih
Na-shuk
Katse
Atania
Face
Keeiij Ilk
Kciiak
Sen nil
1 Chiiieh
lie
Ka..
Month
Kannk
KaiiiM'k
S"aIlotte
1 Che zhik
Ira-luk
guetl-e
Kni'lii
Teeth
Keentik
Kifrnl it
S"nwyer
t"ha-Koh
W-dit
Wonil
Kiishnk
Kessiik
K'ant
Ta-eluiin
Mo-riik
Tlk-vaii
Ki
1 'nil...-
Oliiciik
O.H.Miiak
Mi'tMiii
TTih
Its lia
Tl..\v
K..l.ini.-
)ee page
80.
88
DIVISION III
THE GREA I INTERIOR OF ALASKA.
Here is a domain so large that whole mining states like Colorado, and
agricultural states like Minnesota can and will in time be carved out of it. It is
a country of magnanimous proportions — the longest night and day, largest
mountam, largest moon, most beautiful sun, coldest temperature, umold wealth
and many other superlatives.
THE YUKON.
If it IS true that a man six leet tall may look over the level plain hiteei,
miles at which point the horizon will meet it, then the ^ ukon, in many places,
is more than fifteen miles wide, and at springtime it is a real ocean with num-
erous bays and islands. It is one of the largest rivers in the world. The ^'ukon
heads in Canada, known as Lewes river and has a length of 2,044 miles, the
whole of which with every creek and tributary forms a system of commercial
highways for the interior. Much of the country is low, the banks muddy, and
the mud is washed about forming islands and mud banks and changing the
course of the channels (of which there are many) and a lot of it goes to fill
up the Bering Sea. The mouth is about a hundred miles wide, the Aphoon or
northern mouth, being the channel used for commerce, the entrance to which is
75 miles southward from St. Michaels, the present fort and wireless station.
For years it was the most important Russian post in northern Alaska, the rem.iins
of which are still to be seen. Between Norton Sound and the ^ ukon was, and is,
a numerous native population who have many advantages over their Arctic kins-
folk, because of the wood obtainable for numerous uses and abundance ol fish
and game and less rigorous climate. Small villages, missions and trading stores
are numerous, the same being true of the Yukon as far at least as Nulato. So
much has been written of this district and it is so well known that I forgoe a re-
petition of its interesting history.
IHE KOYUKUK.
The Koyukuk, a river rising near the northeast corner oi Alaska, has been
overlooked since the days of the Russian and Hudson Bay trapper, until about
a year ago. Numerous reports of paying gold in placer and quart/ have re-
cently been made. The annual production is about $150,000. Last summer
I met a large number of miners on their way in to Coldloot, Betlles. Allakakal
and other points on the river, some of them a thousand miles by the way ol the
river and trails from the confluence of the Koyukuk and ^ ukon. Boats run
up as far as Bettles and poling extends to Coldfoot. I his is not the only un-
developed river, to the north of it are many large rivers flowing to the Arctic
yet unmapped. And to the west the Noatak and Kobuk empty into Kot/eliuo
Sound, all heading in the EndicotI range. to which the iiexl stampede ma\
be made.
THE KUSKOKWIM.
The activity on the Kuskokwim was also well repaid last year, and fl.itlerinv
reports are awaited from those who wintered on the river.
The western side of the Alaska range is drained bv its tributaries through
a country wild, unknown and abounding in game.
89
c:handai.ai< kivi-.k
III 1907 another "rush" was made, this timi- to Big Creek, about 75
miles over the divide from (oldfoot. Big Creek is one of the upper branches of
the Chandalar river. In winter about a hundred men work by means of steam
l)()ilers and in summer jierhaps two hundred others are added, the annual
output may be $100,000. Boats from ^ ukon ascend the Chandalar a hundred
miles, from which the camp is easily reached.
One of the first to take a boiler into that country, in telling me his experience
said: "It was so cold in winter that he was required to remove the water from
the boiler as soon as he stopped firing, and that the water would freeze and
burst the boiler if he filled it before he started the fire. But if he built the
fire first he would burn the boiler, consequently he was obliged to build a slow-
fire and fill the boiler as the fire started.
PORCUPINE RIVER.
1 his affluent of the ^'ukon is one of the oldest trails in Alaska. The
natives, Russians and Hudson Bay trappers passed over it winter and summer as
the highway between Ft. McPherson on the Peel, and Ft. Yukon. At the
present time there are several trappers and indians along the river in winter,
perhaps twenty-five, but no miners. Whalers and traders from Herchel come
down the Porcupine by the way of Dease river or Rat river and La Pierr's
House, 600 miles to Ft. Yukon.
INNOKO RIVER.
The tale of the rush to the Innoko, 1906-7, from Fairbanks over 300
miles of winter snow by I 200 miners, less than half of whom reached the diggins.
IS frequently told by the participants, and is exciting enoug w-ithout adding
exageration. The Innoko has two mouths emptying into the Yukon sixty miles
apart. The gold is coarse and a half million dollars is expected out of the
spring cleanup. Transportation is the difficulty in the way of success, hreight
charges are $400 per ton. Flour is now $25 for a hundred pounds. This
is a peculiar country, the bed rock is from four to forty feet from the surface,
the banks of the rivers are low and a boat drawing eighteen inches of water can
not get within two hundred miles of the mines on Gains creek and up the Deetna.
Perhaps the most convenient route would be up the Kuskoquim crossing a portage
of less than ten miles between James Creek and the Innoko. Small boats push
up the Innoko on the spring freshets, but to step off with a ton or more of freight
upon the mud flats among the misquitoes, would require the last ounce ot the
bravest miner's courage. Poling up the remainder of the way over the tortuous
course would consume so much time that the better part of the season would
be over before work could be started. In winter the camp can be reached in a
three day's "mush" from Kaltag. A large number remained on the river last
winter and the cleanup now will be eagerly watched.
The rocks of the country are slaty and the formations are very different from
those of the Yukon, Tanana and other river camps.
A road for winter and summer use should be made at once.
The rushes or stampedes to Forty Mile, Sixty Mile, Dawson and Atlin
are closely related to Alaskan history, likewise the river and trails from the
coast range passes to Eagle, but inasmuch as the one hundred pages, to which
we are limited, are far insufficient for the briefest possible histor\- of Alaska, we
must omit all outside territory and much of interest within our boundary.
TANANA.
The gold output ol the Tanana, ^ukon district, now approximates fifty
million dollars, of which the vicinity of Fairbanks produces two-thirds.
90
The gold seems to originate in two formations, one of metamorphic schists.
the other in greenstones. The elements of ages have been collecting the particles
in the creek bottoms, benches and gorges from which the placer miner has taken
about all the gold produced. In this territory, as in all others, the mother lodes
are sought after the placers have been worked, and paying rock has already been
located. In a country so rich it may be expected that modern machinery, like
Treadwell, will soon be at work here.
Boats in summer almost daily go up the I anana, and with the aid of a
railroad, supply the mining district from the boast on the ^'uLon.
Fairbanks and Chena are busy places all the year through, the former
named in honor of Vice-President Fairbanks, of Indiana, who has done more
than any other one person for Alaska. Ex-President Harrison and Senator
Beverage, also of that state, have the honor of being loyal advocates of Alaska's
needs in the past.
Alfred H. Brooks and his able assistants in the department of geological
surveys have blazed the rocks pointing out the gold and mineral prospects in
new districts, just as plainly as Major Richardson has blazed the trees alon«
the trails leading to them. To all unsinted praise should be given.
The laws, government and administration of Alaska affairs and its courts
have been unsatisfactory in general, and at limes neglected, abandoned or
fraudulently applied. Fhe smae difficulty may be again and again expected as
long as Alaska is governed from Washington, D. C.
Alaska has always been a kind of "football" kicked about by the Hudson
Bay Company, Russian American Fur Company, Alaska Commercial Com-
pany and various departments at Washington, without any regard for cen-
serving its resources, but rather for getting all out of it possible and putting
nothing back in return.
The congressional delegation ol the Stale of Washington, and the commer-
cial organizations of Seattle, have assumed the leadership in the attempt to ob-
tain relief in the matters of governmental improvement, and already increased
appropriations and attentions have been extended.
The products of Alaska have approxmiated $300,000,000. Its exports for
1908 were $36,000,000. Its total trade with the states $46,000,000.
It possesses more undeveloped Gold, Coal and Copper than any olher
state or country; its climate is superior to Northern Asia or Europe; i( has fish
enough for the whole world, and its agricultural possibilities are great.
FOR r ^'UKON.
Fort Yukon was located in 1847, on Russian territory, at ihr coiitluniK-
of the Porcupine with the Yukon by the Hudson Bay Company, lor which it
paid rent to the Russian Fur Company. 1 he Fort was destroyed by the Indians
once, and has been moved and rebuilt several times. It is a hundred miles
farther north than Nome. Here the Alaska traveler is north of the Arctic circle.
an opportunity rarely enjoyed by tourists. Volumes have been written con-
cerning the experience of the Hudson Bay Company, Russian .American Fur
Company and Western Union Telegraph Company from Ft. Selkirk to the
mouth of the ^ ukon. Going down the river from Ft. Selkirk. Ugilvie. at the
confluence of the famous Sixty Mile creek, Dawson, the metropolis of the Klon-
dike, about one-third as large as in the boom days. Eagle on the line. Forty Mile
on the gold creek by that name, Circle. Ft. ^'ukon. Ft. \ lamlin. Rampart.
Tanana, Ft. Gibbons. Nulalo, Klaltag, Anvil, Holy Cross. Ikogmul. .Andreafski
are the important stations, more than half ol which have been known for two-
thirds of a century.
91
INDEX
Admirally Island 25 28
Agriculture 24. 36. 63. 66
Alaska. Boundary of | (^ 24
Alaska, Discoveries of 3 7. 41. 73. 76
Alaska. Maps of 4, 3
Alexandrian Archipelago | 8
Alaska Peninsula 65
Alert Bay 14
Alaska Steamship Co I8
Aleuts 63
Aleutian Islands 65
Anvil Creek 86
Arctic Coast 69
Aurora Borealis 80
Baranov 1 2, 34
Baskets 48 59
Bella Bella ' | 5
Berries 36
Beners Bay '. /6
Behm Canal 21
Bering Sea 69, 72. 73
Bering 41. 72, 76
Bristol Bay 65. 69
Brady, Rev. John G 41. 42
Bogslof Island Created 68
Canoes 49. 53
Cape Prince of Wales 73
Cape Suckling . 41
Cape Fenshaw 25
Cable _ o4
Cassair 23
Chilkoot Pass 29
Chirkoff 37
Chilkat Blanket 60
Chinook 49
Chandlar, R "......".90
Chicagof Island 36
Chena V I
Cleveland Peninsula 21
Clarence, St 21
Copper Center 43. 63
Copper Mine River , 73
Copper 41. 42. 43
Copper River Country 41 to 44
Copper Mountain 22
Coal .12. 25. 41. 44, 66
Coronation. I.. 25
Commerce 9, 91
Comptroller Bay 41
Cordovia , ^\
92
Cooks Inlet Country . 44
Crater Lake 31
Cross Sound 37
Dalton Trail 2tt
Devils Thumb 24
Dixon Entrance T5 to 18
Discoveries on Pacific 9. 10. il. 12, 13. 14. 15. 28. 39. 37. 40. 41
Discoveries Among Aleutian Islands 70
Discoveries in Arctic Seas 72 to 77
Discoveries on ^ ukon 77
Dionmede, I., 72, 77
Douglass, I., 26
Duncan Canal 24
Dora 45
Dyea 29
East Cape 73
Elemar 44
Esquimault 16. 34
Esquimaux 73 to 80
Fairbanks 91
Farragut, B. 24
Fish and Fur 7. 9. 14. 48. 62. 66. 71
Eraser, R 10
Frederick Sound 24. 25
Fort Yukon . 91
Gold 9, 21, 23, 25. 26, 28, 36. 42, 86. 89. 90, 91
Gold Creek 26. 28
Georgia Gulf II. 12
George Inlet 21
Glaciers 24, 25. 28. 30. 37, 39
Gravana, I., 2 1
Hadley 22. 23
Haines . 29
Hamilton Bay 21
Helm Bay 21
Hecta. St 13
Hawkan . ll
Hoonah 37
Hudson Bay Co. 16. 23
Innoko 90
Indian Wars .. 8, 19, 25. 28. M, 37
Indians on Canadian Coast I 4
Indians on Prince of Wales Island - I
Indians on Pacific Coast .40, 45 to 6!
Indian Chiefs 8. 19. 34. 46
Indian Population 46.50
Indian Legands. Slaves. Music. Marriages. Religion. Canoes. Burrials,
Feasts. Totems. Baskets. Blankets, etc.. see 50 to 61
Icy Cape 37
Inside Passage . •*. /
Iskut. R 21
95
Japanese Current 65
Jaun dc Fuca, Slr.iils 9
Juneau 26. 27. 28
luiii-.ui (iold licit 26
kales Needle 24
Kalalla 4!
Kayat r. 41
Kenai 44
Kelcliikan IH
Killisnoo L^
King I., 72
Knight's I.. 44
Kot/ebue Sound 69
Kui I '. 25
Koykuk -: 89
Kupreanof I., 25
Kuskokwim 89
La Perouse 39
Latouche 44
Lake Linderman 31
Lituya. B 39
Loring 19
Lynn Canal 28
Mackenzie, Alexander 10, (5. 73
Mackenzie. R 73
Marble ^ ^ 11
Metlakathla • .19
Missions 19. 35, 36. 46
Mt. Baker 10. 1 I
Mt. St. Augustine 37
Mt. Fairweather 5l
Mt. Crillion 37
Mt. St. Elian 37. 38
Mt. Edgcomb 35
Mt. Sumdum 25
Mt. Iliamma 37
Mt. Wrangell 37
Mt. McKinley 37
Mountains ,. 37. 67. 69, 86
Nanaimo .12
Navigation 62
Norton Sound 77
Nome .86
North West Passage 40, 44, 73 to 77
Nootka 12. 16
Oil 41. 46
Porcupine R.. 90
Potlatch 54
Port Etches . .44
Population 44. 50. 65, 78
Port Clarence , 77
Port Townsend .9
94
Point Barrow 73
Prince Rupert 13
Prince of Wales Island 21
Prince Williams Sound 41
Priblof Islands 69
Puget Sound . 9
Queen Charlotte Sound and Islands 13
Railroads 33. 40. 41 to 44. 87
Ravens 36
Reynolds 42
Rivallagigedo and other Islands 20
Rocks 25
Russians 23. 34. 40. 41. 44. 70
Russian American Fur Co 23
Salmon 9, 10, 17. 18. 19.67
Seal - 70. 7 I
Sea Lion 71. 72
Seward Peninsula 86
Seward, Ft. William H 29
Seward 43
Seward City 28
Seattle 3. 7. 8
Seattle, Chief 8
Sheep Creek ^6. 28
Shamen 34
Schools 61
Sitka 34 to 37
Skaguay 32
Skeena River 21. 25
Sledge I.. 72
Snettisham 2()
Sopy Smith 32
St. Lawrence »'2
Stephens Pass 24
Stikine, R 21. 23. 24. 25
Sports :>6
Sussitna R., 44
Tanana ''"
Tattoosh I.. ^^
Taku R.. 21. 25
Teslin 23
Tides 44
Timber 62
Tm 8(,
Thorn Arm ... 20
Tongass Narrows ^ 1 . 24
Totems 12, 55. 56, 37
Trials . 2\, 28. 28
Treadvvell 26. 27. It*'
Tyee 13
Unuk R.. 21. 23
^5
Vancouver, CJror><«'
Vancouver Island
Valdc/
Victoria
Volcanoes
Walrus
Western Union I el. Co. Scheme
White Pass & Yukon R. R.
Whale
Windham
Wireless Telegraphy
Wrangell and Wrangell Narrows
Yakulat
^ ukon
Zarembo 23
42.
43
10
37
72
77
20.
31.
33
13
23
64,
77.
85
23.
24
39
89
%
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los^pigeles
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